LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Cliap.....-..., Copyright No. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



STxje MtnaznW Mj^xUs of 3|tt0ti5lx ^Ussics. 



MACBETH 



i^' 



EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, 

BY 

JAMES M. GARNETT, M.A., LL.D. 




iuioi 'yk 



s^mm^'^""' 



LEACH, SHEWELL, & SANBORN, 

BOSTON. NEW YORK. CHICAGO. 
1897. 






Copyright, 1897, 
By Leach, Shkwell, & Sanborn. 



/^-3rT2,^ 



Ttpographt bt C. J. Peters & Son, Boston. 



Presswork by Berwick & Smith. 



TO 



IN 

The Woman's College of Baltlmoke, Md., 

1896-1897. 



PREFACE. 



This book is intended for a school and college text- 
book, and it is tlierefore in great part a compilation. 
It is cliiefly indebted to Dr. Furness's edition of Mac- 
beth in The Variorum Shakespeare, and to Clark 
and Wright's Clarendon Press edition of Macheth y but 
the editions of Eolfe, Hudson, Manly, Chambers, and 
Deighton have also been examined. The text is based 
on that of Dr. Furness, collated with the Cambridge 
Shakespeare, second edition, Dyce's third edition, and 
Hudson's school edition. All readings marked F^ (First 
Folio) have been verified from my own original copy of 
that volume. The Textual Notes have been separated 
from the Explanatory ^NTotes, as they may not be needed 
for younger pupils. The references to Abbott's Shake- 
spearian GrarYiTKiar, — which should be in the hands of 
every teacher, if not of every student, — have usually been 
briefly summarized, to enable the student to see the bear- 
ing of the reference upon the text. Occasional questions 
have been introduced in the Notes as suggestive to the 
student, but they should be multiplied by the teacher. 
Some examination questions on Act ITI. will be found 



VI PREFACE. 

in Abbott^s Shakespearian Grammar (pp. 440 ff.), and a 
very complete set prepared by Dr. Furness, with an- 
swers, will be found in Professor Thorn's Shakespeare 
Examinations (pp. 63-101). These are referred to, how- 
ever, merely as suggestive, for each teacher should pre- 
pare his own examination questions. For some excellent 
advice as to the teaching of Shakspere, I would refer 
to Professor Dowden's "Teaching of English Litera- 
ture" in his jSfeiu Studies in Literature (1895). Profes- 
sor Dowden is not afraid of what is so often called cram. 
He says: "A good deal of what is carelessly and igno- 
rantly termed cram I should venture to call sound teach- 
ing as far as it goes^ In the present reaction against 
philological, in behalf of what is called literary, teach- 
ing, great risk is run of feeding a class on the skimmed 
milk of literature, and of having them carry away from 
the class-room nothing serviceable, a stimulus to neither 
the memory, the judgment, the taste, nor the imagina- 
tion, all of which faculties should be stimulated by the 
proper study of Shakspere. 

I am not responsible for the spelling " Shakespeare," 
as I prefer that adopted by the New Shakspere Society. 

JAMES MERCER GARNETT. 

The Woman's College of Baltimore, Md. 
June 1, 1897. 



CONTENTS, 



PAGE 

Preface v 

Introduction — 

Testimonies to Macbeth 1 

Text 3 

Date' 4 

Sources 5 

Davenant's "Argument" 6 

Outline of the Acts and Scenes ...... 8 

The Versification of Shakespeare ..... 15 

Characterization 27 

Time-Analysis of Macbeth 42 

Macbeth . 43 

Textual Notes 141 

Explanatory Kotes 147 

Appendix. Interpolations in Macbeth ...... 216 



VI 1 



INTRODUCTION. 



TESTIMONIES TO MACBETH. 

There are four great tragedies belonging to the third pe- 
riod (1601-1608) of Shakespeare's dramatic activity, — Ham- 
let, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth ; and while each is great in 
its own way, it is useless to attempt to determine which is 
greatest. But Macbeth has been given the palm by some crit- 
ics. The poet Campbell has said (Furness, Variorum Shake- 
speare, Macbeth, p. 423) : " I regard Macbeth, upon the whole, 
as the greatest treasure of our dramatic literature. We may 
look," says he, " as Britons at Greek sculpture and at Italian 
paintings, with a humble consciousness that our native art has 
never reached their perfection ; but in the drama we can con- 
front ^schylus himself with Shakespeare ; and of all modern 
theatres ours alone can compete with the Greek in the unbor- 
rowed nativeness and sublimity of its superstition. In the 
grandeur of tragedy Macbeth has no parallel till we go back 
to the Prometheus and the Furies of the Attic stage." 

Hallam, too (Furness, p. 300), says: "The majority of 
readers, I believe, assign to Macbeth . . . the pre-eminence 
among the works of Shakespeare ; many, however, would 
rather name Othello, and a few might prefer Lear to either. 
The great epic drama, as the first may be called, deserves, in 
my own judgment, the post it has attained, as being, in the 

1 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

language of Drake, ' the greatest effort of our author's genius, 
the most sublime and impressive drama which the world has 
ever beheld.' " 

The German critic Kreyssig also has said (Furness, p. 470) : 
" As regards wealth of thought, Macbeth ranks far below Ham- 
let ; it lacks the wide, free, historic perfection which in Julius 
Caesar raises us above the horror of his tragic fall. It cannot 
be compared with Othello for completeness, depth of plot, or 
full, rich illustration of character. But, in our opinion, it 
excels all that Shakespeare, or any other poet, has created, in 
the simple force of the harmonious, majestic current of its 
action, in the transparency of its plan, in the nervous power 
and bold sweep of its language, and in its prodigal wealth of 
poetical coloring." 

In beginning, then, the study of Macbeth, the student enters 
upon the study of one of Shakespeare's greatest works, in- 
stinct with dramatic power, and, in its depiction of tragic terror, 
thought not unworthy to be placed alongside of the grand 
works of that master of the terrible in ancient tragedy, ^schy- 
lus himself. 

The supernatural element, as seen in the predictions of 
"the weird sisters," heightens this tragic terror ; and it reaches 
its climax in the appearance of the Ghost of Banquo, which 
produces such a remarkable effect upon Macbeth, We may 
trace, too, the course of the evil suggestions working upon 
the mind of an ambitious man, urged on by the persuasion 
of a still more ambitious woman ; but her fate is one to touch 
the heart with the deepest feeling of tragic pathos, while the 
fate of Macbeth himself creates no sympathy for the crimi- 
nal, but is felt to be well deserved, and a signal example of 
that retributive justice which punishes crime at last. 



INTRODUCTION, 



HISTORY OF THE PLAY. 



In order to understand fully any one of Shakespeare's 
dramas, it is necessary to become acquainted with its external 
history, so to say, which includes all that we can learn about 
its text, the date of its composition, and the sources of its plot. 

TEXT. 

About one-half of Shakespeare's plays were published sep- 
arately, in Quarto form, during his lifetime ; but the first col- 
lected edition was that known as the First Folio, published in 
1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death. 

This is our sole authority for the text of about one-half of 
the plays, and, in conjunction with the early Quartos, serves 
to establish the text of the rest of the plays. 

In respect to Macbeth, our sole authority is the text as pub- 
lished in the First Folio, no Quarto edition of it having 
appeared. This first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays 
was edited by his friends and fellow-actors, John Heminge 
and Henry Condell ; but it was not subjected to careful proof- 
reading, and contains many errors, hence the numerous con- 
jectures of editors in their efforts to emend Shakespeare's text. 
Of the text of Macbeth, Clark and Wright, the editors of the 
Cambridge Shakespeare, and of the Clarendon Press edition of 
the play, say (C. P. ed., p. v.) : " The text, though not so cor- 
rupt as that of some other plays, — Coriolanus for example, 
— is yet in many places very faulty, especially as regards 
the division of the lines." They suggest that " probably it 
was printed from a transcript of the author's MS., which was 
in great part not copied from the original, but written to 
dictation. This is confirmed bv the fact that several of the 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

most palpable blunders are blunders of the ear and not of the 
eye." From the way in which the text of the plays has been 
handed down to us, it is not surprising that editors have been 
often forced to resort to conjectural emendation. Where a 
reading in the printed text is a manifest blunder and makes 
no sense, we must take the most plausible conjecture, and 
.endeavor to make the best sense possible. 

DATE. 

In regard to the date of the play, the earliest written testi- 
mony to its representation is the entry in the Diary of Dr. 
Simon Forman, who saw it acted on April 20, 1610, and has 
left us a brief notice of it (Furness, p. 384 ; C. P. ed., pp. vi., 
vii.) Its composition could not have been earlier than 1603- 
1604 ; for the allusion in Act IV., Scene I., line 120, 

" some I see 
That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry," 

is considered to refer to the union of the two kingdoms of 
England and Scotland under James L, who ascended the 
throne in 1603, but was not formally proclaimed king until 
Oct. 24, 1604. The Clarendon Press editors think the play 
was a new one when Dr. Forman saw it, and so prefer a late 
date, say 1609. Mr. Fleay, the Shakespearian scholar, thinks it 
was written soon after James's accession, and prefers 1603. 
Mr. Grant White, the American editor of Shakespeare, says : 
" I have little hesitation in referring the production of Mac- 
beth to the period between October, 1604, and August, 1605 ; " 
but if the allusion to equivocation in Act II., Scene III., line 9 
(see Dowden's Shakspere Primer, p. 137), has any reference, 
as some think, to the trial of Henry Garnet, the Jesuit, who 



.INTRODUCTION. 5 

was connected with the Gunpowder Plot, and was tried on 
March 28, 1606, the play cannot be dated earlier than 1606 ; 
and this is the date preferred by most critics, as Professor 
Dowden and Dr. Furness, editor of the Variorum Shakespeare. 
Dr. Furness thinks that perhaps Macbeth was first exhibited 
on the visit of the King of Denmark to England, which took 
place in July, 1606 (Furness, p. 383). 

SOURCES. 

In respect to the sources of the play, it is manifest that 
Shakespeare drew his plot from Holinshed's Chronicle History 
of England, Scotland and Ireland, which was used by him for 
so many of his plays, especially for his English historical 
plays. Holinshed's second edition was published in 1587 ; 
and this is probably the one Shakespeare used, the first edi- 
tion having been published in 1577. Holinshed was depend- 1 
ent upon the Latin History of the Scots {Scotorum Historia) of 
Hector Boece, or Boetius, first printed in 1526, and translated . 
into the Scotch dialect by John Bellenden a few years later. 
Boece, too, followed a still older history, Fordun's Scotichroni- 
con, or Chronicle of Scotland, about 1377. These histories, ■> 
however, mingle tradition and fact, so that we cannot take 
all their statements as historic truth. Shakespeare has joined 
two different parts of the history, the murder of King Duffe 
by Donwald, and the killing of Duncan by Macbeth, as the 
extracts show.^ Macbeth, as King of Scotland, is said to have 

1 See Furness, pp. 356-370 ; C. P. ed., pp. xiii.-xli. ; and many other 
editions of Macbeth for these extracts ; but it has not been thought 
necessary to reprint them in this edition, for Macbeth is iu no sense 
a historical play, and there is little advantage in tracing out how 
Shakespeare varies from Holinshed. The account in Holinshed 
served merely as a iramework for Shakespeare's delineations. 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

had a successful reign. He was contemporary with Edward 
the Confessor (1042-1066) on the English throne, and was 
overthrown in battle by Malcolm about 1054, but was not 
slain until 1056, says Sir Walter Scott. Mr. Fleay thinks 
that Shakespeare drew his ideas of the witches from Reginald 
Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft (1584), and possibly from an 
old ballad, or play, as it may have been, called The Ballad of 
Mac-do-beth, entered for publication in 1596, and referred to 
in Kem-pe's Nine Days Wonders (1600). Wyntoun's (d. 1420) 
Clironicle of Scotland is also given by Furness as one of the 
sources. Lastly, it must be mentioned that Macbeth, in the 
form in which we have it, is probably interpolated in certain 
parts ; critics differ somewhat as to these, but their views will 
be noticed more particularly in the Appendix. Thomas Mid- 
dle ton, a contemporary dramatist, wrote, probably about 1615, 
two years after Shakespeare's retirement from the stage, a play 
called The Witch, which has points of resemblance with Mac- 
beth ; and it is thought that he introduced into Macbeth the 
character of Hecate, and made other interpolations for stage 
purposes after Shakespeare's death (1616). (See Appendix 
for "Interpolations in Macbeth.'") In 1674 Sir William 
Davenant made a version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and this 
held the stage for many years. It will be found in Furness 
(Appendix, pp. 303-355). Davenant's "Argument" is given 

below. 

" THE ARGUMENT. 

" Duncan, King of the Scots, had two Principal men, whom 
he Imployed in all matters of Importance, Macbeth and Ban- 
quo. These two Traveling together through a Forrest, were 
met by the three Fairie Witches (Weirds the Scots call them) 
whereof the first making Obeysance unto Macbeth, saluted 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

him, Thane (a Title unto which that of Earl afterwards suc- 
ceeded) of Glammis, the second Thane of Cowder, and the 
third King of Scotland : This is unequal dealing, saith Ban- 
quo, to give my friend all the Honours, and none unto me : 
To which one of the Weirds made Answer, That he indeed 
should not be a King, but out of his Loyns should come a Race 
of Kings : that should forever Rule the Scots. And having 
thus said, they all suddenly vanished. Upon their arrival at 
the Court, Macbeth was immediately Created Thane of Glam- 
mis; and not long after some new Service of his, requiring 
new Recompence, he was Honored with Title of Thane of 
Cowder. Seeing then how happily the Prediction of the three 
Weirds fell out in the former, he Resolved not to be wanting 
to himself in fulfilling the third ; and therefore first he killed 
the King, and after by reason of his Command among the 
Soldiers and Common People, he Succeeded in his Throne. 
Being scarce warm in his Seat, he called to mind the Predic- 
tion given to his Companion Banquo : Whom hereupon sus- 
pected as his Supplanter, he caused to be Killed, together with 
his Posterity :. Flean one of his Sons, Escaped only, with no 
small difl&culty into Wales. Freed as he thought from all 
fear of Banquo and his Issue, he Built Dunsinan- Castle, and 
made it his Ordinary Seat : And afterwards an some new 
Fears, Consulted with certain of his Wizards about his future 
Estate : Was told by one of them, that he should never be 
Overcome, till Bii-nam Wood (being some Miles distant) came 
to Dunsinan Castle ; and by another, that he should never be 
Slain by any Man which was Born of a Woman. Secure then 
as he thought, from all future Dangers ; he omitted no kind 
of Libidinous cruelty for the space of 18 Years ; for so long 
he Tyrannized over Scotland. But having thus made up the 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

Measure of his Iniquities, Macduff the Governor of Fife, asso- 
ciating to himself some few Patriots (and being assisted with 
Ten Thousand English) equally hated by the Tyrant, and 
abhorring the Tyranny, met in Birnam Wood, taking every 
one of them a Bough in his hand (the better to keep them 
from discovery) marching early in the morning towards Dunsi- 
nan Castle, which they took by scalado. Macbeth escaping, 
was pursued by Macduff, who having overtaken him, urged 
him to the Combat ; to whom the Tyrant, half in scorn, 
returned this Answer; That he did in Yain attempt to kill 
him, it being his Destiny never to be slain by any that was 
Born of Woman. Now then said Macduff, is thy Fatal end 
drawing fast upon thee, for I was never Born of Woman, 
but violently Cut out of my Mothers Belly : which words so 
daunted the cruel Tyrant, though otherways a Valiant man 
and of great Performances, that he was very easily slain ; and 
Malcolm Conmer, the true Heir, seated in his Throne." 

Outline of the Acts and Scenes in Macbeth. 

The following outline is given for the convenience of younger 
students, and it should be enlarged by themselves : 

Act L, Scene I. Meeting of the three Witches. 

Scene II. Dnncan and attendants meet Sergeant, who gives 
bombastic account of the battle against Norway and Macbeth's 
prowess ; confirmed by Ross, who announces victory, and cap- 
ture of the rebellious Thane of Cawdor. 

Scene III. Meeting of the three Witches on the heath ; 
entrance of Macbeth and Banquo, and predictions of the 
Witches. Boss and Angus announce the honor conferred on 
Macbeth, who is much affected by it, and revolves in mind 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

how the last prediction is to be fulfilled. The murder of 
Duncan suggests itself to him. 

Scene IV. Duncan inquires about Cawdor. Macbeth and 
others enter; Duncan praises Macbeth, and states intention 
of visiting him at Inverness. Duncan makes Malcolm Prince 
of Cumberland, which seems a stumbling-block to Macbeth. 

Scene V. Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth's letter, and fears 
that Macbeth is too gentle " to catch the nearest way." Mes- 
senger announces coming of the King, which seems to Lady 
Macbeth fatal to him. She nerves herself for the murder, 
and welcomes Macbeth with the prospect of the throne, urging 
him to leave the matter to her. 

Scene VI. Arrival of Duncan and attendants, who are met 
by Lady Macbeth, and greeted with formal words. 

Scene VIL Soliloquy of Macbeth, debating with himself 
the murder of Duncan. He wishes to "proceed no further," 
but is spurred to the deed by Lady Macbeth, who taunts him 
with lack of courage, overcomes his scruples, and makes him 
" settled " to commit the crime. 



All important characters except Macduff — present but 
silent — are introduced in this Act. The action progresses 
from the suggestion of the crown to Macbeth, up to the 
settled plot of Macbeth and his wife to remove Duncan, who 
is their guest, as " the nearest way " to its attainment. 



Act IL, Scene I. Banqiio and Fleance after midnight 
meet Macbeth. Banquo and Macbeth converse ; then follows 
Macbeth's soliloquy, debating the crime with himself. 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

Scene II. Lady Macbeth awaits Macbeth, who enters just 
after the murder. The grooms talked in their sleep, and 
Macbeth heard the voice cry, " Sleep no more ! Macbeth doth 
murder sleep.". Lady Macbeth derides Macbeth's compunc- 
tions of conscience, smears the grooms' faces with blood, and 
bids Macbeth get on his nightgown. 

Scene III. Porter's soliloquy as " porter of hell-gate." 
Macduff and Lennox come to see the King, and talk with 
Macbeth. Macduff goes to call the King, and re-enters, 
struck with horror at the sight. Macbeth and Lennox in- 
quire with surprise, " What's the matter ? " and go to see for 
themselves. Lady Macbeth and Banquo are roused by Mac- 
duff's cries, and the ringing of the bell. Macbeth and Lennox 
return, and then Malcolm and Donalbain also, enter. Mac- 
beth's hypocrisy seen in his bombastic speech after killing the 
grooms. Lady Macbeth becomes nervous, and is carried out. 
Malcolm and Donalbain talk aside. Banquo suggests a meet- 
ing, and after others leave, Malcolm and Donalbain conclude 
to go to England and Ireland respectively. 

Sce7ie IV. Ross and Old Man comment on the night. 
Enter Macduff, who charges the grooms with the murder, sub- 
orned by Malcolm and Donalbain who have fled. Macbeth 
has gone to Scone to be invested. (In some editions, as Hud- 
son's, the first three scenes are printed as one, and Scene lY. 
is Scene II.) 

In this act a climax is reached by the murder of Duncan. 
Characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are still further 
developed. Macbeth, having done the deed, is appalled at it. 
Lady Macbeth encourages him, but later is nervous, whether 
in reality or as a feint is disputed. Duncan's sons suspect 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

Macbeth, and leave the Kingdom. Macbeth attains the object 
of his crime, the crown. Action of the first two Acts is very 
rapid. First brings Duncan into Macbeth's power ; second 
traces the consequences of it in his murder and Macbeth's 
coronation. Effect on Macbeth still to be developed in next 
three Acts. 



Act in.. Scene I. Banquo's soliloquy. Enter Macbeth 
and others. Macbeth invites Banquo to supper. Macbeth's 
soliloquy. Interview with murderers in which murder of 
Banquo is plotted. In talk with Banquo, Macbeth refers to 
Malcolm and Donalbain in England and Ireland. 

Scene II. Lady Macbeth sends for Macbeth. Their inter- 
view, in which Macbeth alludes to murder of Banquo without 
explicitly stating it. Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth. 

Scene III. Meeting of murderers, and murder of Banquo. 
Fleance escapes. 

Scene IV. Banquet. Murderer notifies Macbeth of mur- 
der of Banquo. Appearance of Ghost of Banquo, and effect 
on Macbeth. Lady Macbeth excuses him. Second appear- 
ance of Ghost, and renewed excitement of Macbeth. Lady 
Macbeth dismisses the guests, and encourages Macbeth to take 
rest. Macbeth refers to absence of Macduff, and states inten- 
tion of seeking " the weird sisters." ~' 

Scene Y. Meeting of Witches and Hecate, and agreement 
to meet again with Macbeth « at the pit of Acheron " in the 
morning. 

Scene VI. Ironical comment of Lennox on the murder of 
Duncan and of Banquo. Lord informs Lennox that Malcolm 
is in England and Macduff has gone thither. They wish 
return of Macduff to "our suffering country." 




INTBOJDUCTION. 



The action in this Act culminates in the murder of Banquo, 
and the effect on Macbeth when the Ghost of Banquo appears 
at the banquet. Meeting of Hecate and Witches looks to sub- 
sequent interview with Macbeth. Conversation of Lennox 
and Lord prepares for interview of Macduff and Malcolm in 
next Act. The plot progresses regularly from murder of 
Duncan to that of Banquo, and looks to the final retribution 
on Macbeth. Interview of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in 
Scene II. shows Macbeth's perturbed condition, and the effect 
of the Ghost of Banquo on him discloses his guilt. He deter- 
mines to hesitate at nothing to make himself secure, but his 
superstition is shown in his intention of visiting the Witches 
" to know the worst." Scenes V. and VI. are preparatory to 
Act lY. 



Act IY., Scefie T. Macbeth's interview with the Witches, 
and Apparitions of armed head, bloody child, and child 
crowned, with tree in hand ; later, Show of eight kings with 
Banquo's Ghost following. Macbeth determines to surprise 
the castle of Macduff and slay all his line, as he has read his 
fate, and tries to prevent fulfilment of the predictions, seeing 
that Macduff has fled, as Lennox informs him. 

Scene 11. Lady Macduff, Son, and Ross converse about 
Macduff's flight ; a messenger speaks of danger approaching ;- 
murderers enter, slay the son, and pursue Lady Macduff. 

Scene III. Long conversation between Malcolm and Mac- 
duff, the latter urging the former to recover the crown, and 
the former objecting in order to test Macduff, but he finally 
consents. Doctor interlude. Ross announces the fate of Mac- 
duff's vdfe and children. Distress of Macduff, and effort of 
Malcolm to cheer him. They make ready to advance into 



INTROB UCTION. 13 

Scotland with the forces under Siward that England has 
lent. 

Macbeth's superstition still further shown in this Act, and 
efforts ra^de by him to resist fate, even to the murder of all 
Macduff's line. Preparation for recovery of the kingdom by 
Malcolm is also represented. 



Act v.. Scene I. The sleep-walking scene. Doctor and 
Gentlewoman converse about Lady Macbeth's somnambulism,- 
when she enters with a candle, walking in her sleep, and lets 
drop expressions relating to the murders of Duncan, Lady 
Macduff, and Banquo. 

Scene 11. Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox march 
to meet Malcolm, Macduff, and Siward. Macbeth remains 
shut up in the castle of Dunsinane. 

Scene III. Macbeth is enraged at the reports of the flight 
of his thanes, but is confident in his security. A servant 
reports the approach of the English force. Seyton confirms it, 
and Macbeth inquires of the Doctor about his wife. He will 
not fear " Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane." 

Scene IV. Malcolm, Siward, and Scottish lords march 
against Macbeth, each soldier bearing a bough from Birnam 
wood to conceal their numbers. 

Scene V. Macbeth defies the assault, and sends Seyton to 
learn what is that noise of women. He returns and reports 
the death of the Queen, which seems to produce little effect 
upon Macbeth, who has become too hardened to feel or fear. 
A messenger reports the " moving grove," which enrages and 
frightens Macbeth. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

Scene VI. Malcolm, Siward, and Macduff coiimiaud to 
throw down the boughs, sound the trumpets, and join battle. 

Scene VII. Macbeth, as a baited bear, slays young Siward. 
Macduff seeks him. Malcolm and Siward take possession of 
the castle. 

Scene VIII. Macbeth meets Macduff, and learns that he 
was not " of woman born." This frightens him still more, 
and he refuses to fight with Macduff, but in desperation re- 
solves to "try the last," and they retire fighting. Malcolm, 
Siward, and others rejoice over their victory, but lament the 
death of young Siward. Macduff enters with Macbeth's head ; 
Malcolm is hailed King of Scotland, and invites all to Scone 
to see him crowned. 

Action culminates in this Act. Remorse has affected the 
mind of Lady Macbeth, and she dies from the effects of it. 
The Scottish thanes join Malcolm and the English forces. 
Macbeth in despair resists, but when " Birnam wood comes to 
Dunsinane," he fears his fate and loses heart ; still more when 
he learns that Macduff is not " of woman born." The death 
of Lady Macbeth from remorse of conscience, and the slaying- 
of Macbeth by Macduff, avenge the murders of Duncan, Ban- 
quo, and Lady Macduff. !N'emesis is swift and sure. Fate 
works retribution, and we seem to see a Greek tragedy re- 
enacted. The threads of the plot are all united in the final 
Act. 

^NoTE. — Having found such an outline as the foregoing 
useful in instruction, it is given as an illustration of methocJ. 
Students, especially younger students, should be required to 
state in their own language the contents of each Scene of each 
Act in a play of Shakespeare, and at the close of each Act to 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

sum up its contents, and note how far the plot has advanced 
towards completion. The bearing of one Act upon another 
should also be noted, and the gradual development of the 
characters and unravelling of the plot. Esthetic criticism of 
the characters and of the structure of the play may come later. 
It is first requisite to be assured that the play is a real posses- 
sion of the student. Otherwise, the instructor talks in the air. 
I have always advised my students never to read a line of 
criticism on the characters of a play of Shakespeare until they 
have thoroughly mastered the plot, and the development of the 
characters as traced by their action in the play. While not 
sharing Mr. Wright's aversion to aesthetic criticism,^ I think 
it is often undertaken too soon. 

THE VERSIFICATION OF SHAKESPEARE.2 

The basis of all metrical forms, the metrical unit, as it is 
called, is the foot, which, in English verse, consists usually of 
one accented syllable preceded or followed by one or two unac- 
cented syllables. 

We have nothing to do, in English verse, with the great 
number and elaborate schemes of feet and metres found in 
Greek and Roman poetry. The Greeks seem to have had a 
much more acute ear for rhythm than the moderns, and the 
Romans imitated the Greeks. Greek and Roman verse, too, 

1 Introduction to King Lear, C. P. ed., page xviii. 

2 For the contents of this section see Gummere's Handbook of 
Poeitcs, Part III. ; Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar, "Prosody" (pp. 
328-429) ; and Dowden's Shakspere Primer, Chapter IV., §§ 39-46. 
The last work should be used with every class studying Shakespeare. 
Abbott's Grammar is the only book we have on the language of 
Shakespeare, but it should be revised, condensed, and systematized. 
A suitable Primer of the language of Shakespeare is niuch needed. 



16 INTR OD UCTION. 

was based on quantity, — that is, the regular recurrence of long 
and short syllables, — while the verse of all modern European 
nations is based on accent (stress), — that is, the regular re- 
currence of accented (stressed) and unaccented (unstressed) syl- 
lables. But if we assume, for the sake of convenience, that 
accented = long, and unaccented = short syllables, we may bor- 
row certain terms from classical versification, which will re- 
lieve us of the cumbrous repetitions of the expressions, " verses 
of one accent or stress," "verses of two accents or stresses," 
etc., and which will enable us to designate readily the number 
and order of the accented and unaccented syllables constitut- 
ing the foot, and the number of feet in the verse. We make 
use, therefore, of the following names of the most common 
feet in English verse, the breve (u), denoting the unaccented, 
and the macron (-), the accented syllable: — 

Iambus = u.^ ; trochee = _r u ; anapcest = u u^ ; dactyl 

= -^ u c ; pyrrhic = c; <j ; spondee = ; the last two being 

accented according to the verse in which they appear, either 
on the first or the second syllable. Some add the tribrach 
= u u u, and the amphibrach = o - u. The ictus (stress), de- 
noted by the acute accent ( ^ ), marks the accented syllable. 

In English verse the word-accent, which is usually on the 
root-syllable, and the verse-accent should coincide ; but this 
was not the case in classical verse except incidentally, as in 
the first, fifth, and sixth feet of the dactylic hexameter fol- 
lowing. 

Compare jEneid I. 1 : — 

" Arma vir \ umque ca | no || Tro \ jae qui | primus ab | oriSf'^ 
and the first line of Evangeline : — 



INTB 01) UCTlON. 17 

*' This is the | forest pri ] meval. || The | murmuring | pines and 

^ -^ _ 
the I hemlocks." 

The rhythm is the same in each ; and so are the feet, except 
that the Latin third and fourth feet are spondees, and the 
English are dactyls. 

The double strokes ( || ) denote the ccesura, or rhythmical 
pause. 

The following words may be taken as examples of the sev- 



< ^ 'u ^ r 



eral feet as seen in single words : bemoan, holy, persevere, mer- 

w u _ , 

ciful, faith-breach, — the spondee being usually seen in com- 
pound words, and so susceptible of variable accent, as in the 
following verse : — 

*' That o'er | the green | cornfield | did pass." 

A8 You Like It, Y. iii. 17. 

(See Gummere's Handbook of Poetics, p. 142, on " Hovering 
Accent.") The following verse may illustrate the use of 
pyrrhics and spondees : — 

r r 

"Is the 1 King's ship ; 1| in the [ deep nook | where once." 

Tempest, I. ii. 227. 

Mr. Dawson {Englische Studien, XI. 176) calls this two 

r 

pyrrhics, two spondees, and one iambus ; but we may scan is 

the and in the as trochees, which are common in the first and 
third feet of Shakespearian verse. It deserves notice that these 
light feet are immediately followed by heavier ones, a point 
that has been sometimes overlooked, but, if examined into, will 
be found to be a marked characteristic of Shakespearian verse 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

and of the verse of other poets. The balance in the dipody 
(two successive feet) is thus preserved, and the beauty of the 
rhythmical movement is increased. 

According to the number of feet in a verse, it is termed 
monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, 
heptameter, — the last being seen in the old ballad measure, or 
f ourteen-syllable iambic verse, — and even octameter (better 
called octometer) , foot and metre being identical. 

The rhythmical play or flow in English verse is found in 
the skilful arrangement of the words into feet in accordance 
with the natural accent of the words, the subsidiary accent of 
a word often serving, however, as the strongly accented syl- 

lable of a foot, as the ad ] versa | rij. Compare for variation 
of accent in the last word : — 

" O Sir, ,* your pre j sence is | too bold | and per [ empto | ry." 

1 Henry IV., I. iii. 17. 

(Cf. Abbott, § ^^0 ,%per&mptory [perhaps], Pericles, 11. v. 73.) 

It is found also in the variation of the rhythmical pause, which 
has no fixed place in the verse, — as the caesura had in clas- 
sical hexameter verse, — and it may come after an accented 
or an unaccented syllable. The rhythmical pause is not al- 
ways well defined ; but it is seldom entirely absent, except in 
the shortest verses. 

With these brief observations on the general subject of 
verse, we may examine the blank verse of Shakespeare. 

One of the most common forms of verse in English poetry 
is the iambic pentameter, the scheme of which is as follows : — 

It was first used in English by Chaucer, in riming couplets 



IN TR OB UCTION. 1 9 

in many of his Canterbury Tales, and has been used since by 
many poets ; but it is especially familiar .to the modern public 
in the riming couplets of Dryden and Pope, and is called the 
" heroic " English verse, from its use in epic poetry, as in 
Milton's Paradise Lost. This form of verse without rime, and 
hence called " blank " verse, was naturalized by Marlowe as the 
regular form for the drama; and Shakespeare found it ready to 
hand. Milton was the first poet to see its eminent suitableness 
for epic poetry also, and he has made us familiar with it in a 
more uniform structure than in the verse of Shakespeare. 

It has been said that Chaucer never wrote an imperfect 
line ; and doubtless if we had the text of Shakespeare revised 
by his own hand, the same might be said of him. But Shake- 
speare's text has come down to us much mutilated in some 
plays, so that we sometimes meet with lines that do not con- 
form to the normal scheme above mentioned. This statement 
does not apply to the regular licenses, as they are called, of 
Shakespearian blank verse, but only to the abnormal lines 
which cannot be made perfect without much emendation, if 
then. We must always remember that Shakespeare's verse 
was written for the ear, and not for counting syllables on the 
fingers ; and we can always discern the five accents of a nor- 
mal line by reading the verse correctly. 

We find some incomplete lines, usually dimeters or trimeters 
(lines of two or three accents), occurring generally at the 
beginning and the end of speeches ; but some say that Shake- 
speare never left a tetrameter (line of four accents) standing 
in his work, and all such lines should be regarded as mutilated. 

Others, as Abbott (§§ 504-507), allow lines of four accents 
when there is a pause or interruption in the line, and espe- 
cially when there is a change of thought, called the logical 



20 INTB OB UCTION. 

pause. Abbott says, " Lines with four accents are, unless 
there is a pause in the middle of the line, very rare." He 
gives several examples, chiefly from the Taming of the Shrew 
(§505): — 

"Let's each | one send | unto | his wife." 

Taming of the Shrew^ V. ii. 66. 

We meet occasionally with Alexandrines, or twelve-syllable 
lines (iambic hexameters) ; but these are usually composed of 
two trimeters, and occur most frequently at the close of one 
speech and the beginning of the next, or when there is a 
decided pause in the middle of the line, and so they are not 
regular hexameters (§ 500) : — 

"Where it | may see [ itself ; 1| this is | not strange | at all." 

Troilus and Cressida, III. iii. 111. 

(Trochees in first and third feet.) Many twelve-syllable lines 
are only apparent Alexandrines, and- contain but five accents, 
which may be seen by using the Shakespearian accentuation 
and contraction (§ 494) : — 

" He thinks | me now | incap ] able ; || confed(e) rates." 
(§ 497) :_ Tempest, I. ii. 111. (Cf. §464.) 

"That trace him | in his (m's)line. ii ISTo boast | inglike | a fool." 

Macbeth, lY. i. 153. 
(This is better read as two trimeters.) 

In the scanning of Shakespeare we should note carefully 

the following points : — 

(1) That many words were accented differently by Shake- 
speare from their present accentuation, either nearer the begin- 
ning or nearer the end than now. Compare the following : — 

(§ 490.) " Our wills | and fates ji do so | contra | ry run." 

Hamlet, III. ii. 221. 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

(§ 492.) "Bounty, ] persev | (e) ranee, || mcr | cy, low | liness." 

Macbeth, lY. iii. 93. 

(2) That many words, and even phrases, were contracted 
which are no longer contracted, so that vowels were elided 
(or at least slurred in pronunciation, i.e., pronounced with 
very light breath), making an iambus instead of an anapaest. 
It is indifferent which method is adopted : — 

(§463.) "And then, | they say, II no spir(i)t \ dares stir | 
abroad." Hamlet, I. 1. 161. 

(3) That many words were resolved or expanded, i.e., pro- 
longed in pronunciation, so that a monosyllable might be- 
come a dissyllable, or a dissyllable become a trisyllable ; and 
this was especially the case in syllables containing the liquids 
/ and r, the light vowel e being inserted : — 

(§ 477.) " That croaks | the fa | tal en ( t (e) ranee II of Duncan." 

Macbeth, I. v. 40. 

Spenset uses this spelling. Faery Qneene, I. viii. 34. So in 
monosyllables (§ 480) : — 

"Lucius, I my gown. 1| Fare (/aer) | well, good | Messala." 

Julius Ccesar, IV. iii. 231. 

(4) That the rhythmical pause might supply the place of 
an unaccented, and sometimes of an accented, syllable, some- 
times even of both, when there was a pause in the sense 
(logical pause) ; for here rhetorical and rhythmical emphasis 
coincide : — 

(§ 508.) "Let fall | thy lance. || ^ | Despair | and die." 

BicJiard III., Y. iii. 143. 

"That she | did give | me, || ^ | whose p6 | sy was." 

Merchant of Venice, Y. i. 148. 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

(5) That in such cases also there might be an extra unac- 
cented syllable before the pause ; for such double or feminine 
endings might occur within the verse before a pause, as well 
as at the end of the verse : — 

(§ 454.) "For mine | own safeties; || you may | be right | ly 
jiist." Macbeth, lY. iii. 30. 

" For good I ness dares | not check thee ; || wear thou | thy 
wrongs." Macbeth, lY. iii. 33. 

(6) That often in the first foot, and also after a pause in 
sense within the verse, generally in the third or fourth foot, 
the accentuation may be reversed, and we have a trochee in- 
stead of an iambus; but we are told that this does not occur 
in two successive feet : — 

(§ 453.) " Feed and | regard | him not. |] Are you | a man ? " 

Macbeth, III. iv. 58. 
The following line in this section is unique, if scanned as 
marked by Dr. Abbott :'■ — 

"Senseless | linen ! 11 Happier | therein | than f." 

Cymbeline, I. iii. 7. 

It seems most likely that an unaccented initial syllable has 
been lost, as 0, thou, or some like word, and we should scan : — 

" ^ Sense | less lin | en ! || Happier | therein | than f," 

with initial pause and extra syllable before the caesura, although 
there is no difference in the position of the accents. Opin- 
ions may sometimes diifer as to the scanning of a line. In 
the example before the last we may accent you more strongly 
than are, and read, " Are you a man ? " Similarly with refer- 
ence to contractions, resolutions, and pauses. Mathematical 
certainty in scanning cannot always be reached. 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

EXAMPLES. 

As illustrations of the several points noted, we may take 
the following examples : — ' 

" The new | est state. || — This is | the ser | geant." 

Macbeth^ I. ii. 3. 
(Reverse-rhythm [trochee] in third foot, and sergeant as tri- 
syllable.) 

" 'Gainst my | captiv | ity. || — Hail | brave friend ! " 

I. ii. 5. 
(Reverse rhythm [trochee] in fourth foot, and hall as dis- 
syllable.) 

" As thou 1 didst leave 1 it. || - | Doubtful | it stood." 

I. ii. 7. 

(Omission of accented syllable, due to rhythmical pause.) 

" And For [ tune, || on | his dam | ned quar | rel smiling." 

I. ii. 14. 
(Double ending, with caesura in second foot.) 

" Which smok'd | with blood | y ex | ecu | tion." 

I. ii. 18. 

(Dissyllabic ending. Ion; frequent, when final.) 

"Till he I unseam'd | him |1 from | the nave | to th' chaps." 

I. ii. 22. 

(Elision of article, or anapaest in fifth foot, pyrrhic in third 
foot.) 

" What a haste ] looks through | his eyes ! || So should | he look." 

I. ii. 46. 

(Elision of a, which some omit, or anapaest in first foot.) 

" The we | ird sis | ters hand | in hand." 

I. iii. 32. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

(Tetrameter, ive'ird dissyllabic, which Theobald substituted for 
the weyward and weyard of the First Folio.) 

" That man | may ques | tion. || You seem | to un | derstand me." 

I. ill. 43. 
(Double ending before the pause and at end of verse, twelve 
syllables, but only five accents.) 

"Or have | we ea | ten on | the In | sane root." 

I. iii. 84. 

{insane accented on first syllable, pyrrhic in third foot.) 

*' Which he | deserves | to lose. || Whether | he was combin'd." 

I. iii. 111. 

(Hexameter, with reverse rhythm [trochee] in third foot, or 
slur ivTiether to luhe'r and he was to A' was.) 

"My thought, || whose miir | ther yet | is but | fantast(0 cal." 

(Triple ending, or double ending if i is elided, and pyrrhic in 
fourth foot.) 

The student should select other examples for himself. 

The changes in Shakespeare's versification during his dra- 
matic career have of late years, especially since the establish- 
ment of the jSTew Shakspere Society in 1874, been made much 
of in determining the chronological order of his plays. (On 
this subject see Dowden's Shakspere Primer, Chapter IV., 
§§39-46, "Verse-tests.") 

They have been used, too, to separate Shakespeare's work 
from that of others in plays of which he wrote only a part, 
particularly in separating Fletcher's work in the Tivo Noble 
Kinsmen and in Henri/ VIII. ; for Fletcher was very fond of 
double, and even triple, endings. These results are not agreed 
to by all scholars ; and some, as the late Professor Minto and 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

the poet Swinburne,"^ think that too much has been made of 
the verse-tests ; but it does appear that they are useful in 
making certain broad lines of demarcation between plays, 
though they do not enable us to determine the absolute order 
of the plays without other evidence. 

To sum up, Shakespeare's versification is very regular, and 
a line must not be regarded as irregular because it contains 
more or less than ten syllables counted in accordance with 
modern pronunciation. If it contains Jive accents, neither 
more nor less, it is a normal line, even if there is an unac- 
cented syllable over at the end, or in the middle before a 
pause ; and even if there are two unaccented syllables between 
accents. The impression on the ear is the same as in a line of 
ten syllables with five accents, the unaccented and accented 
syllables alternating ; and this is the main point. 

So, too, even if we can count but nine syllables, provided 
we can resolve a long monosyllable into a dissyllable, or can 
pause naturally long enough within the line to supply the 
place of an unaccented or an accented syllable, and not offend 
the ear ; for the ear is the judge of rhythm, and not the fingers. 

Shakespeare's versification became much more melodious 
and flowing in his later plays, due to his adoption of the run- 
on for the end-stopped verse, the sense being continued from 
one line to another without a break. This served to combine 
the verses into paragraphs, and to give greater variety to the 
rhythm. A natural consequence, of this was the use of the 
weak and the light endings, which looked forward rather than 
backward ; and while these usually unaccented words stood 
in accented places, they did not permit the voice to dwell on 

1 Cf . Swinburne's burlesque on the New Shakspere Society, in his 
Study of Shakespeare, Ai^pendix. 



26 INTE OB UCTION. 

them, but the speaker was carried on in a continuous current 
of harmonious verse, producing a much more agreeable effect 
on the ear than the earlier end-stopped lines. To the ordinary 
ear it requires but practice in reading Shakespeare — and read- 
ing aloud is best — to perceive the beauty of his versification, 
and to feel hovv^ much it adds to the force of his thoughts. 

Every student should receive at least elementary instruction 
in the versification of Shakespeare, and be taught to read rhyth- 
mically. It will be found that here a little knowledge is not a 
dangerous thing, and it will awaken a desire for more knowledge. 

Note. — A bibliography of works useful for the study of 
Shakspere's versification, in addition to those above-mentioned, 
may be appended : — 

W. S. Walker's Versification of Shakspere. 

C. Bathurst's Changes in Shakspere's Versification. 

Ellis's Early English Pronunciation, with special reference to 

Chaucer and Shakespeare. 
G. H. Browne's Notes on Shakspere's Versification (based on 

Abbott and Ellis). 
Schipper's Englische Metrik, Vol. II., and his later Grundriss 

der Englischen Metrik. 
Koenig's Der Vers in Shaksperes D7mmen {Quellen und For- 

schungen, LXI.). 
Mayor's Chapters on English Metre. 
Abbott and Seeley's English Lessons for English People, Part 

III. 
Parsons's English Versification. 
Corson's Primer of English Verse. 

It is scarcely necessary to mention. the late Dr. Guest's 
History of English Rhythms, even in the last edition by Profes- 
sor Skeat ; for it is antiquated, and his system is too compli- 
cated to be of any service in instruction. (Cf. my review of 
it in American Journal of Philology, IV. 478 ff.) 



INTUODUCTION. 27 

CHAKACTERIZATlON.i 

Macbeth is a play of two characters, — Macbeth and Lady 
Macbeth. Macduff, Lennox, Ross, Angus, Malcolm, Donal- 
bain, — even Banquo, — and the rest, are but slightly charac- 
terized, and serve simply as a set-off to the great two. How 
does the character of JNIacbeth impress us? 

Macbeth is a valiant captain. In the fight with the rebel- 
lious Macdonwald and Norway, assisted by the traitorous Caw- 
dor, he subjects Fortune to his w^ill, and appears as "brave 
Macbeth," " noble Macbeth." We are thus prepared for his 
coming ; and our first introduction to him is by the salutation, 
" All hail ! " of the weird sisters. The third greeting startles 
him. Had he already formed some such conception, and did 
this chime in so exactly with his thoughts and desires that he 
was for the moment thrown off his guard? He would know 
more, but his supernatural interlocutors vanish into the air 
" as breath into the wind." The prediction to Banquo has 
taken strong hold upon Macbeth. The immediate fulfilment 
of part of the prophecy arouses the hope that " the greatest " 
will not fail, even if it suggest " horrible imaginings," — so hor- 
rible that the fulfilment must be left tq chance, without his stir. 

In the presence of Duncan, Macbeth is all loyalty and service ; 
but the announcement of Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland, 
heir -apparent to the throne, blocks the way. This obstacle 
must be surmounted, for his secret " black and deep desires " 
are already formed. 

The letter of Lady Macbeth show^s still further the hold 
that the prophecy has taken upon Macbeth's mind, and Lady 

1 This section should not be read until the play has been thor- 
oughly mastered by the student. He will then be better fitted to 
discuss it. 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

Macbeth's soliloquy is in perfect accord with his plans ; but 
she fears his vacillation, his unwillingness " to catch the near- 
est way." No such hesitation will be found in her. The mes- 
senger is mad to announce the approach of Duncan, but no 
'• compunctious visitings of nature " will " shake her fell pur- 
pose." Womanlike, she goes straight to the point as soon as 
Macbeth enters, resolves that the sun shall never see the mor- 
row of Duncan's departure, and advises Macbeth to conceal his 
object under a smooth exterior, and put the "great business" 
into her despatch, — to preserve his equanimity, and leave, all 
the rest to her. 

The quick and strong will of the woman under the excite- 
ment of the occasion rises superior to the slower determi- 
nation of the man. The characters of Macbeth and Lady 
Macbeth must be considered together ; they act and react 
upon each other. Duncan's arrival furnishes the opportunity 
for an apparently cordial reception by Lady Macbeth. It is 
not without a purpose that she receives Duncan, and Macbeth 
is kept in the background. His soliloquy reveals the weakness 
of his will. Many reasons combine to prevent the deed, — 
kinsman, subject, host, on Macbeth's part ; excellence as sov- 
ereign on Duncan's, — nothing but "vaulting ambition" spurs 
him on. We are almost ready for an entire renunciation of 
the plan ; but Lady Macbeth appears, and in response to Mac- 
beth's wish to " proceed no further in this business," she 
taunts him with cowardice. Why had he ever broken the 
enterprise to her if he is now ready to give it up ? This 
question leads us to infer that the murder of Duncan had been 
discussed before the prediction of the weird sisters, and ac- 
counts for the eifect of that prediction upon Macbeth. Then 
neither time nor place suited, and now "they have made them- 



IN TE 01) UCTION. 29 

selves." She scouts the idea of failure ; she will so arrange it 
that their plan must be successful. Macbeth himself is as- 
tounded at her " undaunted mettle." Her easy disposal of 
every objection nerves him to the task, conscious though he is 
of his falseness and treachery, but unable to resist the stout 
spirit and ready reasoning of the bloodthirsty and ambitious 
woman. 

The accidental meeting with Banquo, and his refer^,nce to 
his dream, provokes a foul lie from Macbeth's lips and the 
suggestion of a private interview with Banquo " upon that 
business," to which Banquo only too readily consents, saving 
his honor, — a reservation in itself suspicious. The vision of 
the dagger marshals Macbeth the way that he is going, and w^e 
await in breathless silence the accomplishment of " the bloody 
business." Lady Macbeth has nerved herself to the task, and 
has made all needful arrangements ; yet she is startled by her 
husband's call, for fear that at the last moment their plan may 
have miscarried. But the deed is done, even though as its 
result "Macbeth shall sleep no more." His intimations of 
remorse have no effect upon the bolder spirit of the woman. 
He is but " brainsickly ; " a little water will clear them of 
the deed. 

The consciousness of the crime has sunk too deep into Mac- 
beth's mind to permit him to return to the chamber and try to 
cover up his tracks. JSTot so with her. She fears no " painted 
devil ; " she goes herself, and even though on her return her 
hands are of his color, she is ashamed "to wear a heart so 
white." Have the sexes changed places ? Is Macbeth now the 
timid woman, appalled at his crime, and Lady Macbeth the 
bold-faced man, planning, even executing, with a masculine 
mind? It would seem so, at least for the present. 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

The revelation of the crime to Macduff enforces the need of 
a well-affected duplicity upon the guilty pair. Macbeth has 
recovered his senses, and with consummate forethought kills 
the grooms in his sudden fury, for " dead men tell no tales." 
Is the f ainting-spell of Lady Macbeth but an integral part of 
this duplicity, or is it the effect of a suddenly aroused con- 
science that is no longer able to act a part ? The question has 
been debated, and is susceptible of discussion ; but the former 
view seems most tenable, and most in keeping with the char- 
acter as developed up to this point. Time is wanting for a 
realization of the enormity of the crime, the awakening of 
remorse, and the resumption of feelings characteristic of the 
weaker sex. Malcolm and Donalbain readily suspect the true 
state of affairs, but are helpless to remedy it, and so fly the 
country. Macduff shares their suspicions, and hastens home. 
Macbeth goes to Scone, and is duly crowned. 

Banquo, too, has his suspicions ; but if the weird women 

could foretell Macbeth's fortune, why may they not " set him 

up in hope"? Poor Banquo! That prediction has sealed 

his fate. Macbeth artfully extracts from him his intentions 

for the evening, and lays his plans accordingly. His soliloquy 

is filled with the fear that for Banquo's issue he has " fil'd " 

his mind. 

" There is none but he 

"Whose being I do fear." 

He persuades the murderers that Banquo is their enemy, and 
skilfully arranges for the murder of both Banquo and Fleance. 
The thought of Banquo agitates the mind of Lady Macbeth 
also. Her brief soliloquy shows her unrest : — 

" Nought's had, all's spent, 
"Where our desire is got without content." 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

Macbeth appears, disturbed in mind. She would cheer him 
up: "what's done is done." But it is not so much remorse 
for what's done that distracts Macbeth, as apprehension of 
what's undone ; the snake is but scotch'd, not kill'd. His 
mind is full of scorpions, because Banquo and his Fleance 
still live. She is ready with encouragement here too : — 

" But in them nature's copy's not eterne." 

He intimates the "deed of dreadful note," but will not in- 
form her of it. 

Banquo is murdered ; Fleance escapes. Was the third mur- 
derer Macbeth, who had come to see the work well done ? If 
so, his affected surprise when informed of it at the banquet is 
well contrived ; but evidence for such an assumption is lacking. 
^T^he information of the partial failure of his plan brings on 
his fit again. He is distrait, and must be reminded of his 
duty as host by Lady Macbeth. His hypocritical wish for 
Banquo's presence is answered by the appearance of his Ghost. 
The effect is magical. Unperceived by the rest of the com- 
pany, the Ghost completely unnerves Macbeth. Even his wife's 
reproaches have no effect ; he is " quite unmann'd in folly." 
But he protests that he did see him ; men will not stay dead, 
but "rise again, . . . and push us from our stools." On the 
resumption of the feast, Macbeth will pledge the health of 
Banquo, when the Ghost reappears. The effect on Macbeth 
is the same as before ; but the feast is now broken up, and 
cannot be restored, even by Lady Macbeth's calm self-posses- 
sion, so she dismisses the company with the injunction : — 

" Stand not upon the order of your going, 
But go at once." 



32 INTBODUCTION. 

On recovering himself, Macbeth determines to seek the 
M^eird sisters, and know the "worst. He has waded in blood 
too far to turn back. Lady Macbeth, with wifely solicitude, 
suggests " Care-charmer Sleep " as the remedy for his ills. 
There is no evidence as yet of any compunctions of con- 
science on her part for her share in the crime. It is all anx- 
iety to calm Macbeth's troubled spirits. 

To the weird sisters Macbeth goes, and with royal authority 
demands an answer to his questions. It is given by the Ap- 
paritions, by whom he is warned to " beware Macduff," in- 
formed that " none of woman born " shall harm him, and that 
he shall never be vanquished until shall come 

*' Great Bimam wood to high Dunsinane hill." 

His final question as to Banquo's issue is answered in the 
affirmative, for " the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon " him. 
The effect of these sights is but to increase Macbeth's blood- 
thirstiness. Macduff having fled to England, Macbeth mur- 
ders his wife and children in order to wreak vengeance upon 
him. 

Lady Macbeth has disappeared from view since her admoni- 
tion to her husband : — 

"You lack the season of all natures, sleep," 

the last intf Uigent utterance on her part. 

Much has happened in the meantime, — Macbeth's visit to 
the weird sisters, the flight of Macduff, the slaying of his 
wife and children, the information of it brought by Ross to 
Macduff while he is conversing with Malcolm. Lady Macbeth 
has had long to ponder over the murder upon murder, and her 



INTBODUCTION. 33 

mind has proved unable to stand the strain. She appears, walk- 
ing in her sleep, washing her hands and cursing the " damned 
spot ; " " all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little 
hand. Oh, oh, oh ! " The murders rise up successively before 
her, — Duncan, Lady Macduff, Banquo. She realizes in her 
wandering mind and agonized spirit that " what's done cannot 
be undone ; " and with the final exclamation, " To bed, to bed, 
to bed ! " she passes from our view. The doctor cannot " min- 
ister to a mind diseas'd ; " and, as Macbeth goes forth to battle, 
the cry of women announces that the queen is dead : — • 

" Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands, 
Took off her life." 

The strain was too great. Stretched to the highest tension, 
the cord of life snapped. Rising temporarily superior to the 
masculine nature, strong in intellect, in spirit, able to plan 
and execute with the clearest intelligence, apparently bold, 
bloodthirsty, "fiend-like," the woman's nature could not act 
out the part ; it must reassert itself ; amidst the turmoil of 
passions and sensibilities the mind gives way, and from in- 
sanity to suicide is but a step. Her fate causes us to drop a 

» 

tear of pity for the perverted woman. 

How different with Macbeth ! He will have the doctor 
" Raze out the written troubles of the brain ; " but as that is 
beyond the physician's art, he will " throw physic to the dogs," 
and turns to the troubles of the diseased land. His wife's 
death has no effect upon him. He is too hardened to feel any 
emotion of grief. He has "forgot the taste of fears," and of 
sorrows too. " She should have died hereafter," is his laconic 
comment; "Life's but a walking shadow." The report of the 



34 INTE OB UCTION. 

messenger and the meeting with Macduff interpret the words 
of " the juggling fiends," 

*' That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
And break it to our hope." 

As a baited bear, he must " fight the course," and will not 
yield, but falls at last under the avenging sword of Macduft". 
Brave to the last, even after his superstitious reliance upon 
the words of the weird sisters has failed him, he exhibits the 
courage of despair. 

Righteous retribution upon both guilty partners in the 
crime 1 Equally incited by " vaulting ambition," they plan 
the dark deed ; but reflection upon its enormity causes Mac- 
beth to hesitate. Would he have abandoned the design but 
for the taunts and urgings of his strong-willed wife? Who 
can say ? With her the plot, once formed, must be carried out 
to the bitter end, come what will. She goes straight ahead, 
apparently unmoved by the considerations that affect her hus- 
band. Womanly impulse triumphs over all obstacles and all 
fear of consequences. But the excitement was unnatural; she 
broke down completely. It was impossible to escape the 
avenging Furies. Life had become a burden, the mind gave 
way, and Atropos, with her inexorable shears, cut the slender 
thread. It was befitting that Macbeth should die as he did. 
When the climax of Destiny had been reached, there was 
nothing else to do. The character of " brave Macbeth " must 
be preserved, but how nerveless must have been that mighty 
arm! The prophecies of the weird sisters had been fulfilled, 
yet as another Delphian oracle. " Great Birnam wood " had 
come " to high Dunsinane hill ; " Macduff, of whom Macbeth 
should beware, had proved to be not "of woman born," and, 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

filled with a sense of his wrongs, was ready to avenge them. 
He alone should be the avenger, and Macbeth must fall. 

Nemesis for his crimes was swift and sure. Campbell was 
right. We have a Greek tragedy re-enacted in English form. 
No other one of Shakespeare's tragedies produces upon the 
mind of the reader such complete satisfaction with the final 
catastrophe. We may pity the woman, but she should not 
" have died hereafter ; " we may abhor the man, but "no feature 
of his life "became him like the leaving it." 

Next to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the character of Bax- 
Quo is most fully developed. He, too, M'as a valiant cap- 
tain in suppressing the revolt. He, too, was greeted by the 
weird sisters with the " All hail ! " " Lesser than Macbeth, 
and greater." How is this paradox to be solved? In his 
opinion these sights are but earth's '' bubbles," and they two 
seem to have 

. . . " Eaten on the insane root 
That takes the reason prisoner." 

The prediction, however, that his " children shall be kings " 
has made a strong impression upon Banquo's mind; and when 
the fulfilment of one prediction to Macbeth is immediately 
realized, Banquo exclaims : — 

" What, can the devil speak true? " 

There must be something sinister in the words of the 
Witches, for 

" The instruments of darkness tell us truths 

to betray 's 
In deepest consequence." 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

He, however, " very gladly " accepts Macbeth's suggestion to 
"speak our free hearts each to other." To the king's greeting 
of " noble Banquo," and his profuse thanks, he responds with 
becoming loyalty and humility. He accompanies Duncan to 
Macbeth's castle, and praises its delicate air. But he is rest- 
less that night. Although it is after twelve, he is not yet in 
bed, and his mind is filled with "cursed thoughts." He has 
dreaint the night before of " the three weird sisters," and 
readily responds to Macbeth's request for an interview. He 
will cleave to Macbeth's " consent," provided he still keep his 
"bosom franchis'd, and allegiance clear." Why this condi- 
tion? If he suspected Macbeth, he should have refused all 
further intercourse with him, and taken steps to protect Dun- 
can. If he did not suspect him, what occasion was there for 
the reservation ? Might not Lady Macbeth's words concern- 
ing Macbeth be applied to Banquo : — 

. . . " Wouldst not play false, 
And yet wouldst wrongly win " ? 

When he is aroused by Macduff, and the murder is an- 
nounced, his reply is merely : — 

"Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself, 
And say it is not so." 

Weak response ! He alone knew of the predictions ; he 
alone knew of Macbeth's overtures to himself; he alone had 
been disturbed with restless suspicions because Duncan was 
under Macbeth's roof. AVhy not, then, come out boldly, and, 
with the help of Macduff, Malcolm, Donalbain, and the others, 
arrest Macbeth, and have a full investigation ? Banquo 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

was not equal to the occasion. He could only suggest a meet- 
ing to 

..." Question this most bloody piece of work, 

To know it further," 

which never came to anything. He let the time for action 
pass. After the flight of Malcolm and Donalbain, and the 
retirement of Macduff to Fife, it was too late. Macbeth was 
crowned at once, and it would have been useless to question 
his right then. 

Banquo's soliloquy reveals his strong suspicions of Macbeth ; 
nay, his almost certainty that he had " play'd most foully 
for't." But the fulfilment of the prediction in Macbeth merely 
leads him to hope that it may be fulfilled in him too : — 

"May they not be my oracles as well, 
And set me up in hope ? But hush! no more." 

These are not the words of one indignant at the murder of 
his sovereign, and burning to avenge him. So in the further 
conversation with Macbeth, he accepts his invitation to the 
banquet, is bound to him " with a most indissoluble tie," and 
unsuspectingly reveals to Macbeth his plans for the evening. 
Even when Macbeth charges Malcolm and Donalbain with 
"their cruel parricide," — falsely, as Banquo well knew, — he 
has nothing to say in their defence. The last words from 
him are, when attacked in the park, 

"O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! 
Thou mayst revenge. O slave!" 

Banquo has been praised for loyalty to Duncan by compari- 
son with Macbeth, but he makes the impression of a weak 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

character, unwilling to speak out, ready to worship the rising 
sun, and withal superstitiously inclined ; for, having seen the 
prediction of the weird sisters verified in the person of Mac- 
beth, he flatters himself with the hope that he may be the 
progenitor of kings. Fatal prediction for him ! It proved his 
ruin. 

Macduff is the only one of the nobles that maintains his 
loyalty to Duncan and his sons, refuses to attend Macbeth's 
coronation, and flies to England to avoid his vengeance and 
attempt his overthrow. But how are we to explain the for- 
saking of his wife and children ? Doubtless he did not anti- 
cipate that the demon in Macbeth would seek their slaughter 
too. Irremediable mistake ! He should have provided against 
the worst, and taken them with him, or removed them to a 
place of safety. We cannot condemn Lady Macduft' for think- 
ing " his flight was madness," and no wisdom 

..." To leave his wife, to leave his babes, 

in a place 
From whence himself does fly ! " 

His loyalty to his future sovereign is worthy of all praise, but 
his lack of judgment in leaving wife and children to the ten- 
der mercies of a cruel tyrant cannot be excused. Malcolm's 
description of himself tries Macduff sorely. He is willing to 
tolerate voluptuousness, avarice, everything, if they are coun- 
terbalanced by " king-becoming graces ; " but when Malcolm 
denies his possession of such graces, it is too much. Such a 
one is not only not fit to govern, but not fit to live. Malcolm's 
explanation is readily received, and then come the awful tid- 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

ings brought by Ross. He will " dispute it like a man," but 
he " must also feel it like a man." When the first parox- 
ysm of grief is over, his only thought is of revenge upon Mac- 
beth. It was meet that he should be the avenger, and, being 
not of woman born, should fulfil the prediction, " Beware 
Macduff!" 

The Witches play a most important part in the action of 
the drama. The opening scene strikes the keynote, and fore- 
shadows the meeting with Macbeth. They call themselves 
" the weird sisters ; " and so they are, with their prophetic 
powers. Whether we make a distinction between ordinary 
" witches " and " weird sisters," as some would do (see Appen- 
dix), is of small consequence. In Macbeth the terms are used 
synonymously. Their predictions to Macbeth and Banquo 
affect the whole course of the drama. In fact, but for them 
the play might be compared to Hamlet "with Hamlet left 
out." They are an integral part of the action. Whether 
Macbeth had formed the design of compassing the murder 
of Duncan before the meeting on the heath cannot be posi- 
tively determined : it is probable that some such suggestion 
had crossed his mind; but they were the instruments by which 
the suggestion was made a reality. Working upon a natu- 
rally superstitious nature, they determine it in the direction 
indicated by their supernatural prophecies. So, too, they raise 
hopes in Banquo's mind, which cost him so dear. 

The scene with Hecate and the First Witch (Act III., Scene 
V.) is useless. Having noticed that the first scene of the first 
act, which has a purpose, foreshadowed the first meeting with 
Macbeth, Middleton, or some one else, thought to counter- 
balance it with one foreshadowing the second meeting ; hence 
this interpolation. But Hecate is not a Shakespearian char- 



40 INTE on UCTION, 

acter, and all speeches attributed to her may be remorselessly- 
exscinded.^ 

So, too, in Act IV., Scene i., the Hecate speech may be ex- 
cluded. These two speeches contain the songs interpolated 
from Middleton's Wiich, After this speech " Hecate retires ; " 
but later in the same scene, after the speech of the First Witch 
(125-132), "!^/^e Witches dance, and then vanish, with Hecate," 
no mention having been made of Hecate's re-entrance. There 
is a mistake somewhere, and this iambic speech of First Witch 
may go with that of Hecate. 

With this Hecate digression we may return to the Witches 
themselves. After the usual magical incantations, Macbeth, 
appears, and the Witches display again their supernatural 
power in the Apparitions and the Show. It is characteristic 
of such prophecies that they are susceptible of a double inter- 
pretation ; but Macbeth takes them in their most literal mean- 
ing. The effect of these seals Macbeth's fate, and illustrates 
still furiher the powerful influence of the Witches upon the 
action. Although Macbeth addresses them in person as *' se- 
cret, black, and midnight hags! ", as soon as he leaves them, he 
asks Lennox, " Saw you the weird sisters ? " Evidently to 
Macbeth's mind there w^as no distinction between hags, or 

1 See Mr. Spalding in his anti-F\ea.j paper, " On the Witch-Scenes 
in Macbeth " (note 2 to page 39 of New Shakspere Society's Transac- 
tions for 1877-1879), who says," Mr. Furnivall points out, justly, that 
the historical evidence does not support Act III., sc. v., as it does the 
rest of the witch-scenes. He says, ' Hecate's speech in III., v., is 
doubtful. It's so much weaker than the witches' talk, and yet is from 
their ruler. Their speeches are Trochaic, Hecate's Iambic' " This 
last is a strong point, and is sufficient to convince any one with a good 
ear for rhythm that Shakespeare did not write the Hecate speeches 
in Macbeth, Hecate's speeches in Middleton's Witch are chiefly 
iambic pentameters and prose, a few iambic tetrameters, and very 
few trochaic tetrameters. 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

■witches, and weird sisters ; and this is the main point as far 
as this play is concerned. 

The use of the usual incantations — developed still furthei 
in Middleton's Witch and in Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens — 
characterizes these beings, and does not differentiate them from 
ordinary witches. 

The power of making themselves visible and invisible in a 
moment, and of predicting future events, was, too, a part of the 
popular superstition concerning witches ; so we need not seek 
for a distinction between the Witches of different portions of 
the play, however many attributes of the Fates, or ;N"orns, may 
be found in Shakespeare's Witches. The principal point to 
be noted is their tremendous influence upon the action of the 
drama, and the fulfilment of their predictions, however they 
may " palter with us in a double sense." 

Hecate, as already stated, may be regarded as a character 
outside of the original drama, exercising no influence upon 
the action. But we cannot dispense with Shakespeare's 
Witches, which make this play unique in the " valued file '* 
of his greatest tragedies. 



Note. — The New Shakspere Society's Transactions for 1875-1876 may bo 
referred to for a paper on Gruach {Lady Macbeth), by the Countess of 
Charlemont (pp. 194^198) ; and one On the Character of Banquo, by A. Foggo 
(pp. 202-205). In the same Society's Transactions for 1880-1886 will be found 
a paper on The Number of Witches in Macbeth, IV. 1, by Brinsley Nicholson, 
M.D. (Part I., pp. 103-106) ; and one On Character-Development in Shakspere, 
as illustrated by Macbeth and Henry V., by R. G. Moulton (Part II., pp. 
571-578). 



TIME-ANALYSIS OF MACBETH. 



Mb. p. A. DAJTiEii, in the New Shakspere Society's Transactions 
for 1877-1879, pp. 201-208, discusses the Time in Macbeth, and sums 
up as follows : — 

" Time of the Play nine days represented on the stage, and 
intervals. 

Day 1. Act I., Scene i. to iii. 

Day 2. Act I., Scene iv. to vii. 

Day 3. Act II., Scene i. to iv. 

An interval, saj a couple of weeks. A week or two. — Pkofessob 
"Wilson. Three weeks. — Paton. 

Day 4. Act III., Scene i. to v. 

[Act III., Scene vi., an impossible time.] 

Day 5. Act IV., Scene i. 

[Professor Wilson supposes an interval of certainly not more than 
two days between Days 5 and 6. Paton marks two days. No interval 
is required in my opinion.] 

Day 6. Act IV., Scene ii. 

An interval. Poss's journey to England. Paton allows two 
weeks. 

Day 7. Act TV., Scene iii. Act V., Scene i. 

An interval. Malcolm's return to Scotland. Three weeks. — 
Paton. 

Day 8. Act V., Scene ii. and iii. 

Day 9. Act Y., Scene iv. to viii." 

Note. — See also the New Shakspere Society's Transactions for 1875- 
1876, Part II., Dp. 351-358, for Professor Wilson's (Christopher North's) 
'' Double-Time in Macbeth," reprinted from Dies Boreales, No. Y. ; and New 
Shakspere Society's Transactions for 1877-1879, Appendix III., pp. 21*-41*, 
for continuation of the same subject : " Professor Wilson's Solution of the 
Mystery of Double-Time in Shakspere," reprinted from Dies Boreales, 
No. VII., Blackwood's Magazine for May, 1850. 

42 



MACBETH. 



"Du*c, 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



rcAN, King of Scotland. 
Malcolm, } i,;^^^ns. 

DONALBAIN, ' 

Macbkth, ^ generals of the king's 
Banqio, ^ anny. 

MaCDI FF, 

Lennox, 
Ross, 

Menteith, 
Angus, 
Caithness,^ 
Fleance, son to Banquo. 
Siward, Earl of Nortlminberland, gen- 
eral of the English foroes. 
Young Siward, his son. 



> noblemen of Scotland. 



Setton, an officer attending on Macbeth. 
Boy, son to Macduff. 
An English Doctor. A Scotch Doctor. 
A Sergeant. A Porter. An old Man. 

Lady Macbeth. 
Lady Macduff. 

Gentlewoman attending on Lady Mac- 
beth. 
Hecate. 

Three Witches, Apparitions. 

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, 
Murderers, Attendants, and Messen- 
gers. 

Scene: Scotland; England. 



ACT I. 

Scene I. A desert place. 

Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches. 

First Witch. When shall we three meet again ^ 
In thunder, lightning, or ^ in rain ? 

Second Witch. When the hurlyburly's done, 
When the battle's lost and won. 

43 



44 SnAEESPEABE. Act I. 

Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun. 5 

First Witch. Where the place ? 
Second Witch. Upon the heath. 

Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 
First Witch. I come, Graymalkin ! 
Second Witch. Paddock calls. 
Third Witch. Anon ! ^ 

All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair : 10 

Hover through the fog and filthy air. \_Exeunt. 

Scene II. A camp near Forres. 

Alarum within. Enter Duncan, ^ Malcolm, Donalbain, 
Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant.'^ 

Duncan. What bloody man is that ? He can report, 
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt 
The newest state. 

Malcolm. This is the sergeant 

Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought 
'Gainst my captivity. — Hail, brave friend ! 5 

Say to the king the knowledge of the broil 
As thou didst leave it. 

Sergeant. Doubtful it stood ; 

As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald — 
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that 10 

The multiplying villanies of nature 
Do swarm upon him — from the western isles 



Scene 11. MACBETH. 45 

Of kerns and gallowglasses ^ is supplied ; 

And Fortune, on his damned quarrel ^ smiling, 

Show'd like a rebel's whore. But all's too weak : 15 

For brave Macbeth, — well he deserves that name, — 

Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel, 

Which smoked with bloody execution. 

Like valour's minion carved out his passage^ 

Till he faced the slave ; 20 

Which ^ ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him. 

Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps, 

And fix'd his head upon our battlements. 

Duncan. valiant cousin ! worthy gentleman ! 

Sergeant. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection 25 
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,® 
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come 
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark : 
JSTo sooner justice had, with valour arm'd, 
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, 30 
But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, 
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men, 
Began a fresh assault. 

Duncan. Dismay'd not this 

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo ? 

Sergeant. Yes 

As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. 35 

If I say sooth, I must report they were 
As cannons overcharged with double cracks ; 
So they doubly ' redoubled strokes upon the foe : 
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, 



46 SHAKESPEABE. Act I. 

Or memorize anottier Golgotha, 40 

I cannot tell — 

But I am faint ; my gashes cry for help. 

Duncan. So well thy words become thee as thy 
wounds ; 
They smack of honour both. — Go get him surgeons. 

\_Exit Sergeant^ attended. 
Who comes here ? 

Enter Eoss.^ 

Malcolm. The worthy thane of Ross. 45 

Lennox. What haste ^ looks through his eyes ! So 
should he look 
That seems to speak things strange. 

Ross. God save the king ! 

Duncan. Whence earnest thou, worthy thane ? 

Ross. From Fife, great king ; 

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky, 
And fan our people cold. Norway himself/^ 50 

With terrible numbers, 
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor. 
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict ; 
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof, 
Confronted him with self-comparisons, 55 

Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, 
Curbing his lavish spirit : and, to conclude, 
The victory fell on us ; — 

Duncan. Great happiness ! 

Ross. That now 
Sweno, the Nor ways' king, craves composition ; eo 



Scene III. MACBETH. 47 

Nor would we deign him burial of his men 
Till he disbursed, at Saint Colme's inch, 
Ten thousand dollars to our general use. 

Duncan. No more that thane of Cawdor shall de- 
ceive 
Our bosom interest. — Go pronounce his present death, 65 
And with his former title greet Macbeth. 

Ross, ni see it done. 

Duncan. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath 
won. s, \_Exeunt. 

Scene III. A Heath. 

Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 

First Witch. Where hast thou been, sister ? 
Second Witch. Killing swine. 
Third Witch. Sister, where thou ? 
First Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her 
lap. 
And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd : ' Give me,' 
quoth 1 : 5 

^ Aroint ^ thee, witch ! ' the rump-fed ronyon cries. 
Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger: 
But in a sieve I'll thither sail, 
And, like a rat without a tail, 
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do. lo 

' Second Witch. I'll give thee a wind. 
First Witch. Thou art kind. 
Third Witch. And I another. 



48 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

FiBST Witch. I myself have all the other ; 

And the very ports they blow, 15 

All the quarters that they know 

I' the shipman's card. 

I will drain him dry as hay : 

Sleep shall neither night nor day 

Hang upon his pent-house lid ; 20 

He shall live a man forbid : 

Weary se'n-nights nine times nine 

Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine : 

Though his bark cannot be lost, 

Yet it shall be tempest-tost. 25 

Look what I have. 

Second Witch. Show me, show me. 

First Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, 

AVreck'd as homeward he did come. 

\_Drum within. 
Third Witch. A drum, a drum ! 30 

Macbeth doth come. 

All. The weird ^ sisters, hand in hand, 

Posters of the sea and land. 

Thus do go about, about : 

Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, 35 

• And thrice again, to make up nine. 

Peace ! the charm's wound up. 

Enter Macbeth and Banquo. 

Macbeth. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. 
Banquo. How far is't call'd to Forres ? ^ — What are 
these, 



Scene III. MACBETH. 49 

So wither'd, and so wild in their attire, 40 

That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, 
And yet are on't ? — Live you ? or are you aught 
That man may question ? You seem to understand me. 
By each at once her choppy finger laying 
Upon her skinny lips : you should be women, 45 

And yet your beards forbid me to interpret 
That you are so. 

Macbeth. Speak, if you can ; what are you ? 

First Witch. All hail, Macbeth ! hail to thee, thane 
of Glamis ! 

Second Witch. All hail, Macbeth ! hail to thee, 
thane of Cawdor ! 

Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king 
hereafter ! 50 

Banquo. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to 
fear 
Things that do sound so fair ? — I' the name of truth. 
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed 
Which outwardly ye show ? My noble partner 
You greet with present grace and great prediction 55 
Of noble having and of royal hope. 
That he seems rapt* withal : to me you speak not. 
If you can look into the seeds of time. 
And say which grain will grow and which will not. 
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 60 

Your favours nor your hate. 

First Witch. Hail ! 

Second Witch. Hail ! 



50 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

Third Witch. Hail! 

First Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 65 

Second Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 

Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be 
none : 
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo ! 

First Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail ! 

Macbeth. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more : 
By Sinel's death I know I am thane of (Griamis ; 71 

But how of Cawdor ? the thane of Cawdor lives, 
A prosperous gentleman ; and to be king 
Stands not within the prospect of belief. 
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence 75 

You owe this strange intelligence ? or why 
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way 
With such prophetic greeting ? Speak, I charge you. 

[ Witches vanish^ 

Banquo. The earth hath bubbles as the water has. 
And these are of them : whither are they vanish'd ? so 

Macbeth. Into the air ; and what seem'd corporal 
melted 
As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd ! 

Banquo. Were such things here as we do speak 
about ? 
Or have we eaten on the insane root 
That takes the reason prisoner ? 85 

Macbeth. Your children shall be kings. 

Banquo. You shall be king. 

Macbeth. And thane of Cawdor too : went it not so ? 



Gcene lU. MACBETH. 51 

Banquo. To tlie selfsame tune and words. Who's 
here ? 

Enter Koss and Angus. 

Eoss. The king hath happily receiv'd^ Macbeth, 
The news of thy success : and when he reads 90 

Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, 
His wonders and his praises do contend 
Which should be thine or his : silenced with that, 
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day. 
He finds thee in the stout ISTorweyan ranks, 95 

Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make. 
Strange images of death. As thick as hail ^ 
Came post with post ; and every one did bear 
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence. 
And pour'd them down before him. 

Angus. We are sent 100 

To give thee from our royal master thanks ; 
Only to herald thee into his sight. 
Not pay thee. 

Eoss. And for an earnest of a greater honour. 
He bade me from him call thee thane of Cawdor : 105 
In which addition, hail, most Avorthy thane ! 
For it is thine. 

Banquo. \_Aside.~\ ^ AVhat, can the devil speak true ? 

Macbeth. The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you 
dress me 
In borrow'd robes ? 

Angus. Who was the thane lives yet ; 

But under heavy judgement bears that life 110 



52 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined 

With those of Norway, or did line the rebel 

With hidden help and vantage, or that with both 

He labour'd in his country's wreck, I know not ; 

But treasons capital, confess'd and proved, 115 

Have overthrown him. 

Macbeth. \^Aside.^ Glamis, and thane of Cawdor ! 
The greatest is behind. — Thanks for your pains. — 
\_Aside to Banquo.] Do you not hope your children 

shall be kings. 
When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me 
Promised no less to them ? 

Banquo. \_Aside to Macbeth.] That, trusted home, 120 
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, 
Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange; 
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm. 
The instruments of darkness tell us truths, 
Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's ' 125 

In deepest consequence. — 
Cousins, a word, I pray you. 

Macbeth. \_Aside.'] Two truths are told, 

As happy prologues to the swelling act 
Of the imperial theme. — I thank you, gentlemen. — 
\_Asld6.~\ This supernatural soliciting 130 

Cannot be ill, cannot be good : if ill. 
Why hath it given me earnest of success. 
Commencing in a truth ? I am thane of Cawdor : 
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion 
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair 135 



Scene III. MACBETH. 53 

And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, 

Against the use of nature ? Present fears 

Are less than horrible imaginings : 

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical. 

Shakes so my single state of man that function i40 

Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is 

But what is not. 

Banquo. Look, how our partner's rapt. 

Macbeth. \^Aside.^ If chance will have me king, 
why, chance may crown me 
Without my stir. 

Banquo. New honours come upon him. 

Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould 145 
But with the aid of use, 

Macbeth. [_Aside.'] Come what come may. 
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 

Banquo. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. 

Macbeth. Give me your favour : my dull brain was 
wrought 
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains 150 
Are register'd where every day I turn 
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the King. — 
\_Aside to Banquo.] Think upon what hath chanced, 

and at more time, 
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak 
Our free hearts to each other. 

Banquo. \_Aside to Macbeth.] Very gladly. 155 

Macbeth. \_Aside to Banquo.] Till then, enough. — 
Come, friends. \_Exeunt. 



54 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

Scene IV. Forres. The Palace. 

Flourish. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain,, 
Lennox, and Attendants. 

Duncan. Is execution done on Cawdor ? Are not 
Those in commission yet return'd ? 

Malcolm. My liege, 

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke 
With one that saw him die, who did report 
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons, 5 

Implored your highness' pardon, and set forth 
A deep repentance : nothing in his life 
Became him like the leaving it ; he died 
As one that had been studied in his death 
To throw away the dearest thing he owed _ 10 

As 'twere a careless trifle. 

Duncan. There's no art 

To find the mind's construction in the face : 
He was a gentleman on whom I built 
An absolute trust. — 

Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Ross, and Angus. 

worthiest cousin ! 
The sin of my ingratitude even now ' 15 

Was heavy on me : thou art so far before 
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow 
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved. 
That the proportion both of thanks and payment 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 55 

Might have been mine ! only I have left to say, 20 

More is thy due than more than all can pay. 

Macbeth. The service and the loyalty I owe, 
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part 
Is to receive our duties ; and our duties 
Are to your throne and state, children and servants ; 25 
Which do but what they should, by doing every thing 
Safe toward your love and honour. 

DuJsrcAisr. Welcome hither : 

I have begun to plant thee, and will labour 
To make thee full of growing. — Noble Banquo, 
That hast no less deserved, nor must be known 30 

No less to have done so, let me infold thee 
And hold thee to my heart. 

Banquo. There if I grow, 

The harvest is your own. 

Duncan. My plenteous joys, 

Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves 
In drops of sorrow. — Sons, kinsmen, thanes, 35. 

And you whose places are the nearest, know. 
We will establish our estate upon 
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter 
The Prince of Cumberland : which honour must 
Not unaccompanied invest him only, 40 

But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine 
On all deservers. — From hence to Inverness, 
And bind us further to you. 

Macbeth. The rest is labour, which is not used for 
you: 



56 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

I'll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful 45 

The hearing of my wife with your approach ; 
So humbly take my leave. 

Duncan. My worthy Cawdor ! 

Macbeth. [^Aside.^ The Prince of Cumberland ! 
that is a step, 
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap. 
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires ; 50 

Let not light see my black and deep desires : 
The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be 
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. \_Exit. 

Duncan". True, worthy Banquo : he is full so valiant, 
And in his commendations I am fed ; 55 

It is a banquet to me. Let's after him, 
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome : 
It is a peerless kinsman. \_FlouTish. Exeunt. 

Scene Y. Inverness. A room in Macbeth's castle. 

Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter. 

Lady Macbeth. They met Trie in the day of success ; 
and I have learned hy the perfect est report, they have 
more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in 
desire to question them further, they made themselves air, 
into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the 5 
wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-hailed 
me Thane of Cawdor ; hy which title, before^ these weird 
sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of 



Scene V. . MACBETH. 57 

time, with Hail, king that shalt be ! This have I thought 

good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, lo 

that thou might'' st not lose the dues of rejoicing, hy being 

ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to 

thy heart, and farewell. 

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be 

What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature ; 15 

It is too full o' the milk of human kindness 

To catch the nearest way : thou would' st be great; 

Art not without ambition, but without 

The illness should attend it : what thou would'st highly, 

That would'st thou holily ; would'st not play false, 20 

And yet would'st wrongly win : thou'ldst have, great 

Glamis, 
That which cries ' Thus thou must do, if thou have it ; ' 
And that which rather thou dost fear to do 
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, 
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, 25 

And chastise with the valour of my tongue 
All that impedes thee from the golden round 
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem 
To have thee crown'd withal. — 

Enter a Messenger. 

What is your tidings ? 

Messenger. The king comes here to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Thou'rt mad to say it. 

Is not thy master with him ? who, were't so, 31 

Would have inform'd for preparation. 



58 SHAKESPEABE. Act I. 

Messenger. So please you, it is true : our thane is 
coming: 
One of my fellows had the speed of him, 
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more 35 

Than would make up his message. 

Lady Macbeth. Give him tending ; 

He brings great news. \_Exit Messenger.'] The raven 
/ himself is hoarse 

1/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan 

Under my battlements. Come, you spirits ^^ 

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, 40 

And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full 

Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood. 

Stop up the access and passage to remorse. 

That no compunctious visitings of nature 

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between; 45 

The effect and it ! Come to my woman's breasts, 

And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers. 

Wherever in your sightless substances 

You wait on nature's mischief ! Come, thick night. 

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, 50 

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, 

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, 

To cry "Hold, hold!" 

Enter Macbeth. 

Great Glamis ! worthy Cawdor ! 
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter ! 
Thy letters have transported me beyond 55 



Scene VI. MACBETH. 59 

This ignorant present, and I feel now 
The future in the instant. 

Macbeth. My dearest love, 

Duncan comes here to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. And when goes hence ? 

Macbeth. To-morrow, as he purposes. 

Lady Macbeth. 0, never 

Shall sun that morrow see ! 60 

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men 
May read strange matters. To beguile the time. 
Look like the time ; bear welcome in your eye. 
Your hand, your tongue : look like the innocent flower. 
But be the serpent under 't. He that's coming 65 

Must be provided for : and you shall put 
This night's great business into my dispatch ; 
Which shall to all our nights and days to come 
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. 

Macbeth. We will speak further. 

Lady Macbeth. Only look up clear ; 

To alter favour ever is to fear : 7i 

Leave all the rest to me. \_Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Before Macbeth'' s castle. 

Hautboys and torches. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Don- 
ALBAiN, Banquo, Lennox, Macduff, Eoss, Angus, 
and Attendants. 

Duncan. This castle hath a pleasant seat ; the air 
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
Unto our gentle senses. 



60 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

Banquo. This guest of summer, 

The temple-haunting martlet, does approve 
By his loved mansionry ^ that the heaven's breath 5 

Smells wooingly here : no jutty, frieze, 
Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird 
Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle : 
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed 
The air is delicate. 

Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Duncan See, see, our honour'd hostess ! 10 

The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, 
Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you 
How you shall bid God 'ield ^ us for your pains, 
And thank us for your trouble. 

Lady Macbeth. All our service 

In every point twice done, and then done double, 15 

Were poor and single business to contend 
Against those honours deep and broad wherewith 
Your majesty loads our house : for those of old. 
And the late dignities heap'd up to them. 
We rest your hermits.^ 

Duncan. Where's the thane of Cawdor ? 20 

We coursed him at the heels, and had a purpose 
To be his purveyor : but he rides well ; 
And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him 
To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess. 
We are your guest to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Your servants ever 25 



Scene VII. MACBETH. 61 

Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, 
To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, 
Still to return your own. 

Duncan. Give me your hand ; 

Conduct me to mine host : we love him highly. 
And shall continue our graces towards him. so 

By your leave, hostess. ^Exeunt. 

Scene YII. Macbeth's castle. 

Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Ser- 
vants with dishes and service, and pass over the stage. 
Then enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere 
well 
It were done quickly : if the assassination 
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch, 
With his surcease, success ; that but this blow 
Might be the be-all and the end-all here, 5 

But here, upon this bank and shoal ^ of time. 
We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases 
We still have judgement here ; that we but teach 
Bloody instructions, which being taught return 
To plague the inventor : this even-handed justice lo 

Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice 
To our own lips. He's here in double trust : 
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject. 
Strong both against the deed ; then, as his host, 



62 SHAEESPEAIiE. Act I. 



15 



Who should against his liiurxierer shut the door, 

Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan 

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 

So clear in his great oJBB.ce, that his virtues 

Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against 

The deep damnation of his taking-off ; 20 

And pity, like a naked new-born babe 

Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin horsed 

Upon the sightless couriers of the air, 

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, 

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur 25 

To prick the sides of my intent, but only 

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, 

And falls on the other. 

Enter Lady Macbeth. . 

How now ! what news ? 
Lady Macbeth. He has almost supp'd : why have 

you left the chamber ? 
Macbeth. Hath he ask'd for me ? 
Lady Macbeth. Know you not he has ? 30 

Macbeth. We will proceed no further in this busi- 
ness : 
He hath honour'd me of late ; and I have bought 
Golden opinions from all sorts of people, 
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, 
Not cast aside so soon. 

Lady Macbeth. Was the hope drunk 35 

Wherein you dress'd yourself ? hath it slept since ? 



Scene VII. MACBETH. 63 

And wakes it now, to look so green and pale 

At what it did so freely ? From this time 

Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard 

To be the same in thine own act and valour 4o 

As thou art in desire ? Wouldst thou have ^ that 

Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, 

And live a coward in thine own esteem, 

Letting ' I dare not ' wait upon ^ I would,' 

Like the poor cat i' the adage ? 

Macbeth. Prithee, peace ! 45 

I dare do all that may become a man; 
Who dares do more is none. 

Lady Macbeth. What beast was't then 

That made yon break this enterprise to me ? 
When you durst do it, then you were a man ; 
And, to be more than what you were, you would 50 

Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place 
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both : 
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now 
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know 
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me : 55 

I would, while it was smiling in my face. 
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, 
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you 
Have done to this. 

Macbeth. If we should fail ? ^ 

Lady Macbeth. We fail ! * 

But screw your courage to the sticking-place, 60 

And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep, — 



64 SHAKESPEARE. Act I. 

Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey 

Soundly invite him, — his two chamberlains 

Will I Avith wine and wassail so convince, 

That memory, the warder of the brain, 65 

Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason 

A limbec only : when in swinish sleep 

Their drenched natures lie as in a death, 

W^hat cannot you and I perform upon 

The unguarded Duncan ? w^hat not put upon 70 

His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 

Of our great quell ? 

Macbeth. Bring forth men-children only ; 

For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
Nothing but males. Will it not be received, 
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 75 
Of his own chamber, and used their very daggers, 
That they have done't ? 

Lady Macbeth. Who dares receive it other. 

As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar 
Upon his death ? 

Macbeth. I am settled, and bend up 

Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. so 

Away, and mock the time with fairest show : 
False face must hide what the false heart doth know. 



Scene I. MACBETH. 65 

ACT II. 

Scene I. Inverness. Court of Macbeth^s castle. 
Enter Banquo, preceded hy Fleance with a torch. 

Banquo. How goes the night, boy ? 

Fleance. The moon is down ; I have not heard the 
clock. 

Banquo. And she goes down at twelve. 

Fleance. I take't, 'tis later, sir. 

Banquo. Hold, take my sword. — There's husbandry 
in heaven, 
Their candles are all out. — Take thee that too. — 5 
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me. 
And yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers, 
E-estrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature 
Gives way to in repose ! — 

Enter Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch. 

Give me my sword. — 
Who's there ? 

Macbeth. A friend. 10 

Banquo. What, sir, not yet at rest ? The king's a-bed : 

He hath been in unusual pleasure, and 

Sent forth great largess to your offices : ^ 

This diamond he greets your wife withal. 

By the name of most kind hostess ; and shut up 15 

In measureless content. 



6Q SHAKESPEARE. Act II. 

Macbeth. Being unprepared, 

Our will became the servant to defect, 
Which else should free have wrought. 

Banquo. All's well. 

I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters : 
To jou they have show'd some truth. 

Macbeth. I think not of them : 20 

Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, 
We would 2 spend it in some words upon that business. 
If you would grant the time. 

Banquo. At your kind'st leisure. 

Macbeth. If you shall cleave to my consent, when 
'tis. 
It shall make honour for you. 

Banquo. So I lose none 25 

In seeking to augment it, but still keep 
My bosom f ranchised, and allegiance clear, 
I shall be counsell'd. 

Macbeth. Good repose the while ! 

Banquo. Thanks, sir : the like to you ! 

[Exeunt Banquo and Fleance. 

Macbeth. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is 
ready, 30 

She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. — 

\_Exit Servant. 
Is this a dagger which I see before me, 
The handle toward my hand ? Come, let me clutch thee. 
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. 
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible 35 



Scene I. MACBETH. 67 

To feeling as to sight ? or art thou but 
A dagger of the mind, a false creation, 
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain ? 
I see thee yet, in form as palpable 

As this which now I draw. 4o 

Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going ; 
And such an instrument I was to use. 
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, 
Or else worth all the rest. — I see thee still ; 
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, 45 

V/hich was not so before. There's no such thing : 
It is the bloody business which informs 
Thus to mine eyes. — Now o'er the one half -world 
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 
The curtain'd sleep ; ^ witchcraft celebrates 50 

Pale Hecate's offerings ; and wither'd murder, 
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, 
Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace. 
With Tarquin's ravishing strides,* towards his design 
Moves like a ghost. — Thou sure and firm-set earth, 55 
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear 
The very stones prate of my whereabout. 
And take the present horror from the time, 
Which now suits with it. — Whiles I threat, he lives : 
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. 60 

\_A hell rings. 
I go, and it is done ; the bell invites me. 
Hear it not, Duncan ; for it is a knell 
That summons thee to heaven or to hell. \_Exit. 



68 SHAKESPEARE. Act II. 

Scene II. The same. 

Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. That which hath made them drunk 
hath made me bold ; 
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. — Hark ! 

Peace ! 
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, 
Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it : 
The doors are open ; and the surfeited grooms 5 

Do mock their charge with snores : I have drugged their 

possets, 
That death and nature do contend about them, 
Whether they live or die. 

Macbeth. \_Within.'] Who's there ? what, ho 
Lady Macbeth. Alack, I am afraid they have 
awaked, 
And 'tis not done : — the attempt and not the deed 10 
Confounds us. Hark ! I laid their daggers ready ; 
He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled 
My father as he slept, I had done 't. — My husband ! 

Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. I have done the deed ! Didst thou not 

hear a noise ? 
Lady Macbeth. I heard the owl scream and the 

crickets cry. 15 

Did not you speak ? ^ 



Scene 11. MACBETH. 69 

Macbeth. When ? 

Lady Macbeth. Now. 

Macbeth. As I descended ? 

Lady Macbeth. Ay.^ 

Macbeth. Hark ! 
Who lies i' the second chamber ? 

Lady Macbeth. Donalbain. 

Macbeth. This is a sorry sight. 20 

\_Looking on his hands. 

Lady Macbeth. A foolish thought, to say a sorry 
sight. 

Macbeth. There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one 
cried ' Murder ! ' 
That they did wake each other : I stood and heard them : 
But they did say their prayers, and address'd them 
Again to sleep. ' 

Lady Macbeth. There are two lodged together. 25 

Macbeth. One cried ^ God bless us ! ' and ' Amen ! ' 
the other, 
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands, 
Listening their fear : I could not say ' Amen ! ' 
When they did say ' God bless us ! ' 

Lady Macbeth. -Consider it not so deeply. 30 

Macbeth. But wherefore could not I pronounce 
^ Amen ' ? 
I had most need of blessing, and ' Amen ' 
Stuck in my throat. 

Lady Macbeth. These deeds must not be thought 
After these ways ; so, it will make us mad. 



il 



70 SHAKESPEARE. Act II. 

Macbeth. Methought I heard a voice cry * Sleep no 
more ! 35 

^ Macbeth does murder sleep/ — the innocent sleep ; 
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, 
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, 
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, 
Chief nourisher in life's feast, — 

Lady Macbeth. What do you mean ? 4o 

Macbeth. Still it cried ' Sleep no more ! ' to all the 
house : 
^ Glamis hath murder'd sleep ; and therefore Cawdor 
Shall sleep no more ; Macbeth shall sleep no more ! ' 

Lady Macbeth. Who was it that thus cried ? Why, 
worthy thane. 
You do unbend your noble strength, to think 45 

So brainsickly of things. Go get some water. 
And wash, this filthy witness from your hand. 
Why did you bring these daggers from the place ? 
They must lie there : go carry them, and smear 
The sleepy grooms with blood. 

Macbeth. I'll go no more : 50 

I am afraid to think what I have done ; 
Look on't again I dare not. 

Lady Macbeth. Infirm of purpose ! 

Give me the daggers : the sleeping and the dead 
Are but as pictures : 'tis the eye of childhood 
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, 55 

I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, 
For it must seem their guilt. \_^xit. Knocking within. 



Scene II. MACBETH. 71 

Macbeth. Whence is that knocking ? 

How is't with me, when every noise appals me ? 
What hands are here ? Ha ! they pluck out mine eyes ! 
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood go 

Clean from my hand ? No ; this my hand will rather 
The multitudinous seas^ incarnadine/ 
Making the green one red. 

Re-enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. My hands are of your colour, but I 

shame 
To wear a heart so white. \_Knocking within.^ I hear 

a knocking 65^ 

At the south entry : retire we to our chamber. 
A little water clears us of this deed : 
How easy is it then ! Your constancy 
Hath left you unattended. — \_Knocking within.'] Hark ! 

more knocking : 
Get on your night-gown, lest occasion call us, 70 

And show us to be watchers. Be not lost 
So poorly in your thoughts. 

Macbeth. To know my deed, 'twere best not know 

myself. \_K7iocking within. 

AVake Duncan with thy knocking ! I would thou 

could' st ! \_Exeunt. 



J 



72 SHAKESPEARE. Act n. 

Scene III. The same. 

Enter a Porter. Knocking within. 

Porter. Here's a knocking indeed ! If a man were 
porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. 
\_Knocking within.'] Knock, knock, knock ! Who's there, 
i' the name of Beelzebub ? Here's a farmer that hanged 
himself on th' expectation of plenty: come in time; 5 
have napkins enow about you ; here you'll sweat for't. 
\_Knocking ivithin.~\ Knock, knock ! Who's there, in th' 
other devil's name ? Faith, here's an equivocator that 
could swear in both the scales against either scale ; who 
committed treason enough for God's sake, yet could lo 
not equivocate to heaven. 0, come in, equivocator. 
[^Knocking within.] Knock, knock, knock ! Who's there ? 
Faith, here's an English tailor come hither for stealing 
out of a French hose. Come in, tailor ; here you may 
roast your goose. \_Knocking withiii.] Knock, knock ; 15 
never at quiet ! What are you ? — But this place is too 
cold for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further: I had 
thought to have let in some of all professions, that go 
the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire. \^Knock- 
ing within.] Anon, anon ! I pray you, remember 20 
the porter. \_Opens the gate. 

Enter Macduff and Lennox. 

Macduff. Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed, 
That you do lie so late ? 23 



Scene HI. MACBETH. 73 

Porter. Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second 
cock ; and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things. 25 



Macduff. I believe drink gave thee the lie last night. 

Porter. That it did, sir, i' the very throat on me : 
but I requited him for his lie ; and, I think, being too 
strong for him, though he took up my legs sometime, yet 
I made a shift to cast him. 30 

Macduff. Is thy master stirring ? 

Enter Macbeth. 

Our knocking has awaked him ; here he comes. 

LenoStox. Good-morrow, noble sir. 

Macbeth. Good-morrow, both. 

Macduff. Is the king stirring, worthy thane ? 

Macbeth. ]S"ot yet. 

Macduff. He did command me to call timely on him : 
I have almost slipp'd the hour. 

Macbeth. I'll bring you to him. 36 

Macduff. I know this is a joyful trouble to you ; 
But yet 'tis one. 

Macbeth. The labour we delight in physics pain. 
This is the door. 

Macduff. I'll make so bold to call, 40 

For 'tis my limited service. \_Exit. 

Lennox. Goes the king hence to-day ? 

Macbeth. He does : he did appoint so. 

Lennox. The night has been unruly : where we lay, 



74 SHAKESPEABE. Act II. 

Our chimneys were blown down ; and, as they say, 

Lamentings heard i' the air ; strange screams of death, 

And prophesying with accents terrible 46 

Of dire combustion and confused events 

New-hatch'd to the woful time : the obscure ^ bird 

Clamour'd the live-long night : some say the earth 

Was feverous and did shake. 

Macbeth. 'Twas a rough night. 50 

Lenis'ox. My young remembrance cannot parallel 

A fellow to it. 

Re-enter Macduff. 

Macduff. O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor 
heart 
Cannot conceive nor name thee. 

Macbeth. Lennox. What's the matter ? 

Macduff. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece. 
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope 56 

The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence 
The life o' the building. 

Macbeth. What is't you say ? the life ? 
Lennox. Mean you his majesty ? 

Macduff. Approach the chamber, and destroy your 
sight 60 

With a new Gorgon. Do not bid me speak ; 
See, and then speak yourselves. 

\_Exeunt Macbeth and Lennox. 
Awake, awake ! — 
Ring the alarum bell ! — Murder and treason ! — 
Banquo and Donalbain ! Malcolm, awake ! 65 



Scene III. MACBETH. 75 

Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, 

And look on death itself ! up, up, and see 

The great doom's image ! Malcolm ! Banquo ! 

As from your graves rise up, and walk like sprites, 

To countenance this horror ! Ring the bell ! ^ 70 

\^Bell rings. 
•Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. What's the business, 

That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley 
The sleepers of the house ? speak, speak ! 

Macduff. gentle lady, 

'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak : 
The repetition, in a woman's ear, 75 

Would murder as it fell. - — 

Enter Banquo. 

Banquo, Banquo, 
Our royal master's murder 'd ! 

Lady Macbeth. Woe, alas ! 

What, in our house f 

Banquo. Too cruel anywhere. 

Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself, 
And say it is not so. so 

Re-enter Macbeth and Lennox. 

Macbeth. Had I but died an hour before this chance, 
I had lived a blessed time ; for from this instant 
There's nothing serious in mortality ; 
All is but toys : renown and grace is dead ; 



76 SHAKESPEABE. Act 11. 

The wine of life is drawn, and tlie mere lees 85 

Is left this vault to brag of. 

Enter Malcolm and Donalbain. 

DoxALBAiN. What is amiss ? 

Macbeth. You are, and do not know't : 

The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood 
Is stopp'd ; the very source of it is stopp'd. 

Macduff. Your royal father's murder'd. 

Malcolm. 0, by whom ? 9o 

Lennox. Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had 
done't : 
Their hands and faces were all badged with blood ; 
So were their daggers, which, unwiped, we found 
Upon their pillows : 

They stared, and were distracted; no man's life 95 

"Was to be trusted with them. 

Macbeth. 0, yet I do repent me of my fury, 
That I did kill them. 

Macduff. Wherefore did you so ? 

Macbeth. Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and 
furious. 
Loyal and neutral, in a moment ? No man. 100 

The expedition of my violent love 
Outrun the pauser reason. Here lay Duncan, 
His silver skin laced with his golden blood ; 
And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature 
For ruin's wasteful entrance : there, the murderers, 105 
Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers 



Scene III. MACBETH. 77 

Unmannerly breecli'd with gore. Wlio could refrain, 
That had a heart to love, and in that heart 
Courage to make 's love known ? 

Lady Macbeth. Help me hence, ho ! 

Macduff. Look to the lady. 

Malcolm. \_Asicle to Don al bain.] Why do we hold 
our tongues, no 

That most may claim this argument for ours ? 

DoNALBAiN. [_Aside to Malcolm.] What should be 
spoken here, where our fate. 
Hid in an auger-hole, may rush and seize us ? 
Let's away : 
Our tears are not yet brew'd. 

Malcolm. \_Asid6 to Donalbain]. Nor our strong 
sorrow 115 

Upon the foot of motion. 

Banquo. Look to the lady : — 

[Lady Macbeth is carried out. 
And when we have our naked frailties hid, 
That suffer in exposure, let us meet, 
And question this most bloody piece of work. 
To know it further. Tears and scruples shake us : 120 
In the great hand of God I stand ; and thence 
Against the undivulged pretence I fight 
Of treasonous malice. 

Macduff. And so do I. 

All. So all. 

Macbeth. Let's briefly put on manly readiness, 
And meet i' the hall together. 



78 SHAKESPEARE. Act II. 

All. ■ Well contented. 125 

\^Exeunt all but Malcolm and Donalbain. 

Malcolm, What will you do ? Let's not consort 
with them : 
To show an unfelt sorrow is an oflGlce 
Which the false man does easy. I'll to England. 

DoNALBAiN. To Ireland, I ; our separated foTtune 
Shall keep us both the safer : where we are, 130 

There's daggers in men's smiles : the near ^ in blood, 
The nearer bloody. 

Malcolm. This murderous shaft that's shot 

Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way 
Is to avoid the aim. Therefore to horse ; 
And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, 135 

But shift away : there's warrant in that theft 
Which steals itself when there's no mercy left. 

\_Exeunt. 

Scene YV} Without the castle. 

Enter Hoss and an Old Man. 

Old Man. Threescore and ten I can remember well : 
Within the volume of which time I have seen 
Hours dreadful and things strange ; but this sore night 
Hath trifled former knowings. 

Boss. Ah, good father, 

Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act, 5 
Threaten his bloody stage : by the clock 'tis day. 
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp. 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 79 

Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame. 
That darkness does the face of earth entomb, 
When living light shonld kiss it ? 

Old Man. 'Tis unnatural, lo 

Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last, 
A falcon, towering in her pride of place, 
Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd. 

Koss. And Duncan's horses^ — a thing most strange 
and certain — 
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, 15 

Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, 
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make 
War with mankind. 

Old Man. 'Tis said they eat ^ each other. 

Eoss. They did so ; to the amazement of mine eyes. 
That look'd upon't. Here comes the good Macduff. — 20 

Writer Macduff. 

How goes the world, sir, now ? 

Macduff. Why, see you not ? 

Koss. Is't known who did this more than bloody 
deed ? 

Macduff. Those that Macbeth hath slain. 

Eoss. • Alas, the day ! 

What good could they pretend ? 

Macduff. They were suborn'd : 

Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's two sons, 25 

Are stol'n away and fled, which puts upon them 
Suspicion of the deed. 



80 SHAKESPEARE. Act III. 

Ross. 'Gainst nature still : 

Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up 
Thine own life's means ! Then 'tis most like 
The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth. so 

Macduff. He is already nam'd, and gone to Scone 
To be invested. 

Ross. Where is Duncan's body,? 

Macduff. Carried to Colme-kill, 
The sacred storehouse of his predecessors, 
And guardian of their bones. 

Boss. Will you to Scone ? 35 

Macduff. ISTo, cousin ; I'll to Fife. 

Ross. Well, I will thithei\ 

Macduff. Well, may you see things well done 
there : adieu ! 
Lest our old robes sit easier than our new ! 

Ross. Farewell, father. 

Old Man. God's benison go with you, and with those 
That would make good of bad, and friends of foes ! 41 

[■Exeunt. 

ACT III. 

Scene I. Forres. A room in the palace. 

Enter Banquo. 

Banquo. Thou hast it now : King, Cawdor, Glamis, 
all, 
As the weird women promised, and I fear 



Scene I. MACBETH. 81 

Thou play'dst most foully for't : yet it was said 

It should not stand in thy posterity ; 

But that myself should be the root and father 5 

Of many kings. If there come truth from them, — 

As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine, — 

Why, by the verities on thee made good. 

May they not be my oracles as well, 

And set me up in hope ? But hush ; no more. 10 

Sennet sounded. Enter Macbeth, as king ; Lady 
Macbeth, as queen; Lennox, E,oss, Lords, Ladies, 
and Attendants. 

Macbeth. Here's our chief guest. 

Lady Macbeth. If he had been forgotten, 

It had been as a gap in our great feast. 
And all-thing unbecoming. 

Macbeth. To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir. 
And I'll request your presence. 

Banquo. Let ^ your highness 15 

Command upon me, to the which my duties 
Are with a most indissoluble tie 
Por ever knit. 

Macbeth. Ride you this afternoon ? 

Banquo. Ay, my good lord. 

Macbeth. We should have else desired your good 
advice, 20 

Which still hath been both grave and prosperous, 
In this day's council ; but we'll take to-morrow. 
Is't far you ride ? 



82 SHAKESPEAEE. Act in. 

BAnquo. As far, my lord, as will fill up the time 
'Twixt this and supper: go not my horse the better, 25 
I must become a borrower of the night 
For a dark hour or twain. 

Macbeth. Fail not our feast. 

Banquo. My lord, I will not. 

Macbeth. We hear our bloody cousins are bestow'd 
In England and in Ireland, not confessing 30 

Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers 
With strange invention : but of that to-morrow, 
When therewithal we shall have cause of state 
Craving us jointly. Hie you to horse : adieu, 
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you ? 35 

Banquo. Ay, my -good lord : our time does call upon's. 

Macbeth. I wish your horses swift, and sure of foot ; 
And so I do commend you to their backs. 
Farewell. — \_Exit Banquo. 

Let every man be master of his time 40 

Till seven at night : to make society 
The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself 
Till supper-time alone : while then, God be with you ! ^ 

\_Exeunt all but Macbeth and an Attendant. 
Sirrah, a word with you : attend those men 
Our pleasure ? * 45 

Attendant. They are, my lord, without the palace- 
gate. 

Macbeth. Bring them before us. — \_Exit Attendant. ~\ 

To be thus is nothing ; 
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo 



Scene I. MACBETH. 83 

Stick deep ; and in his royalty of nature 

Reigns that which would be f ear'd : ^tis much he dares ; 

And to that dauntless temper of his mind, 51 

He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour 

To act in safety. There is none but he 

Whose being I do fear ; and under him 

My Genius is febuked, as it is said 55 

Mark Antony's was by Caesar.^ He chid the sisters, 

When first they put the name of king upon me, 

And bade them speak to him ; then prophet-like 

They hail'd him father to a line of kings. 

Upon my head they plac'd a fruitless crown, 60 

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe. 

Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand, 

ISTo son of mine succeeding. If't be so, 

For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind ; 

For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd ; 65 

Put rancours in the vessel of my peace 

Only for them ; and mine eternal jewel 

Given to the common enemy of man, 

To make them kings, the seed ^ of Banquo kings ! 

Rather than so, come, fate, into the list, 70 

And champion me to the utterance ! — Who's there ? 

Re-enter Atteyidant, with tivo Murderers. 

Now go to the door, and stay there till we call. — 

\_Exit Attendant. 
Was it not yesterday we spoke together ? 

First Muedekek. It was, so please your highness. 



84 SHAKESPEARE. Act III. 

Macbeth. Well then, now 

Have you consider'd of my speeches ? Know 75 

That it was he, in the times past, which held you 
So under fortune, which 5^ou thought had been 
Our innocent self ; this I made good to you 
In our last conference, pass'd in probation with you. 
How you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instru- 
ments, 80 
Who wrought with them, and all things else that might 
To half a soul and to a notion crazed 
Say ^Thus did Ban quo.' 

FiKST Murderer. You made it known to us. 

Macbeth. I did so ; and went further, which is now 
Our point of second meeting. Do you find 85 

Your patience so predominant in your nature, 
That you can let this go ? Are you so gospell'd, 
To pray for this good man and for his issue, 
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave, 
And beggar'd yours for ever ? 

First Murderer. We are men, my liege. 90 

Macbeth. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men ; 
As hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, 
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are clept, 
All by the name of dogs : the valued file 
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, 95 

The house-keeper, the hunter, every one 
According to the gift which bounteous nature 
Hath in him closed ; whereby he does receive 
Particular addition, from the bill 



Scene I. MACBETH. 85 

That writes them all alike : and so of men. loo 

Now, if you have a station in the file, 

Not ^ i' the worst ^ rank of manhood, say it,"^ 

And I will put that business in your bosoms 

Whose execution takes your enemy off, 

Grapples you to the heart and love of us, i05 

Who wear our health but sickly in his life, 

Which in his death were perfect. 

Secoxd Murderer. I am one, my liege. 

Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world 
Have so incensed that I am reckless what 
I do to spite the world. 

First Murderer. And I another, no 

So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, 
That I would set my life on any chance, 
To mend it or be rid on't. 

Macbeth. Both of you 

Know Banquo was your enemy. 

Both Murderers. True, my lord. 

Macbeth. So is he mine ; and in such bloody dis- 
tance ^ 115 
That every minute of his being thrusts 
Against my near'st of life : and though I could 
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight, 
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not, 
For certain friends that are both his and mine, 120 
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall 
Who I myself struck down : and thence it is, 
That I to your assistance do make love. 



86 SHAKESPEARE. Act in. 

Masking tlie business from the common eye 
Eor sundry weighty reasons. 

Second Murderer. We shall, my lord, 125 

Perform what you command us. 

First Murderer. Though our lives — 

Macbeth. Your spirits shine through you. Within 
this hour at most, 
I will advise you w^here to plant yourselves, 
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time. 
The moment on 't; for 't must be done to-night, 130 

And something from the palace ; always thought 
That I require a clearness : and with him, — 
To leave no rubs nor botches in the work, — 
Eleance his son, that keeps him company. 
Whose absence is no less material to me 135 

Than is his father's, must embrace the fate 
Of that dark hour. Eesolve yourselves apart : 
I'll come to you anon. 

Both Murderers. We are resolved, my lord. 

Macbeth. I'll call upon you straight ; abide within. 

\_Exeunt Murderers. 
It is concluded : — Ban quo, th}^ soul's flight, i40 

If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. \_Exit. 

Scene II. The same. Aiiother room. 

Enter Lady Macbeth and a Servant. 

Lady Macbeth. Is Banquo gone from court ? 
Servant. Ay, madam, but returns again to-night. 



Scene 11. MACBETH. 87 

Lady Macbeth. Say to the king, I would attend his 
leisure 
For a few words. 

Servant. Madam, I will. \_Exit. 

Lady Macbeth. Nought's had, all's spent, 

Where our desire is got without content : 
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy. 
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. — 

Enter Macbeth. 

How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, 

Of sorriest fancies your companions making ; 

Using those thoughts which should indeed have died lo 

With Miem they think on ? Things without all remedy 

Sho^d be without regard : what's done is done. 

[acbeth. We have scotch'd ^ the snake, not kill'd it ; 
he'll close, and be herself, whilst our poor malice 
Kemains in danger of her former tooth. 15 

But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, 
Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep 
In the affliction of these terrible dreams 
That shake us nightly : better be with the dead. 
Whom we, to gain our place,^ have sent to peace, 20 

Than on the torture of the mind to lie 
In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave ; 
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well ; 
Treason has done his worst : nor steel, nor poison, 
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing 25 

Can touch him further. 



88 SHAKESPEARE. Act HI. 

Lady Macbeth. Come on ; 

Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks ; 
Be bright and jovial among your guests to-night. 

Macbeth. So shall I, love ; and so, I pray, be you : 
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo ; so 

Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue : 
Unsafe the while, that we . . '- 

Must lave our honours in these flattering streams, 
And make our faces visards ^ to our hearts, 
Disguising what they are. 

Lady Macbeth. You must leave this. 35 

Macbeth. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife ! 
Thou know'st that Banquo and his Meance lives.^ 

Lady Macbeth. But in them nature's copy's not 
eterne. 

Macbeth. There's comfort yet ; they are assailable ; 
Then be thou jocund : ere the bat hath flown 40 

His cloister'd flight ; ere to black Hecate's summons 
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums 
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done 
A deed of dreadful note. 

Lady Macbeth. What's to be done ? 

Macbeth. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest 
chuck, 45 

Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, 
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day ; 
And with thy bloody and invisible hand 
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond 
Which keeps me pale ! Light thickens ; and the crow 50 



Scene IH. MACBETH. 89 

Makes wing to the rooky wood : 
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse, 
Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse. 
Thou marvell'st at my words ; but hold thee still : 
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill. 55 

So, prithee, go with me. \_Exeunt. 

Scene III. A park near the palace. 
Enter three Murderers. 

First Murderer. But who did bid thee join with 
us? 

Third Murderer. Macbeth. 

Second Murderer. He needs not our mistrust ; 
since he delivers 
Our offices, and what we have to do, 
To the direction just. 

First Murderer. Then stand with us. 
The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day : 5 

Now spurs the lated traveller apace, 
To gain the timely inn, and near approaches 
The subject of our watch. 

Third Murderer. Hark ! I hear horses. 

Banquo. [ Within.'] Give us a light there, ho ! 

Second Murderer. Then 'tis he : the rest 

That are within the note of expectation 10 

Already are i' the court. 

First Murderer. His horses go about. 



90 SHAKESPEARE. Act ni. 

Third Murderer. Almost a mile : but he does 
usually — 
So all men do — from hence to the palace gate 
Make it their walk. 

Second Murderer. A light, a light ! 

Enter Banquo, and Pleance with a torch. 

Third Murderer. 'Tis he. 

PiRST Murderer. Stand to't. 15 

Banquo. It will be rain to-night. 
First Murderer. Let it come down. 

\_They set upon Banquo. 
Banquo. 0, treachery ! My, good Fleance, fly, fly, 
fly! 
Thou mayst revenge. O slave ! 

\_Dies. — Fleance escapes. 
Third Murderer. Who did strike out the light ? 
First Murderer. Was 't not the way ? 

Third Murderer. There's but one down: the son 

is fled. 
Second Murderer. We have lost 20 

Best half of our affair. 

First Murderer. Well, let's away, and say how 
much is done. [^Exeunt. 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 91 



Scene IV. Hall in the palace. 

A banquet prepared. Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, 
Koss, Lennox, Lords, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. You know your own degrees ; sit down : 
at first 
And last the hearty welcome. 

Lords. Thanks to your majesty. 

Macbeth. Ourself will mingle with society, 
And play the humble host. 

Our hostess keeps her state ; but in best time 5 

We will require her welcome. 

Lady Macbeth. Pronounce it for me. sir, to all our 
friends. 
For my heart speaks they are welcome. 

Enter first Murderer to the door. 

Macbeth. See, they encounter thee with their 
hearts' thanks. 
Both sides are even ; here I'll sit i' the midst : 10 

Be large in mirth ; anon, we'll drink a measure 
The table round. [Ajypro aching the door. 

There's blood upon thy face. 
Murderer. 'Tis Banquo's then. 
Macbeth. 'Tis better thee without than he ^ within. 
Is he dispatch'd ? 15 

Murderer. My lord, his throat is cut ; that I did 
for him. 



92 SHAKESPEARE. Act III. 

Macbeth. Thou art the best o' the cut-throats ; yet 
he 's good 
That did the like for Meance : if thou didst it 
Thou art the nonpareil. 

Murderer. Most royal sir, 

Fleance is 'scaped. 20 

Macbeth. [^Aside.^ Then comes my fit again : I had 
else been perfect, 
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, 
As broad and general as the casing air ; 
But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd, bound in 
To saucy doubts and fears. — But Banquo's safe ? 25 

Murderer. Ay, my good lord : safe in a ditch he 
bides, 
With twenty trenched gashes on his head ; 
The least a death to nature. 

Macbeth. Thanks for that. — 

[Aside.'] There the grown serpent lies : the worm that's 

fled 
Hath nature that in time will venom breed, so 

No teeth for the present. — Get thee gone : to-morrow 
We'll hear ourselves again. 

[^Exit Murder 67\ 

Lady Macbeth. My royal lord. 

You do not give the cheer : the feast is sold 
That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, 
'Tis given with welcome : to feed were best at home ; 35 
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony ; 
Meeting were bare without it. 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 93 

Macbeth. Sweet remembrancer ! — 

Now good digestion wait on appetite, 
And health on both ! 

Lennox. May 't please your highness sit. 

\^The Ghost of Banquo enters, and sits in 
Macbeth'' s place. 

Macbeth. Here had w^e now our country's honour 
roof d, 40 

Were the graced person of our Banquo present ; 
Whom may I rather challenge for unkindness 
Than pity for mischance ! 

Eoss. His absence, sir, 

Lays blame upon his promise. Please 't your highness 
To grace us with your royal company. 45 

Macbeth. The table's full. 

Lennox. Here is a place reserved, sir. 

Macbeth. Where ? 

Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is 't that moves 
your highness ? 

Macbeth. Which of you have done this ? 

Lords. What, my good lord ? 

Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it : never shake 
Thy gory locks at me. 51 

Eoss. Gentlemen, rise ; his highness is not well. 

Lady Macbeth. Sit, worthy friends : my lord is often 
thus, 
And hath been from his youth : pray you, keep seat ; 
The fit is momentary ; upon a thought 55 

He will again be well : if much you note him, 



94 SHAKESPEARE. Act III 

You shall offend him and extend his passion : 
Feed, and regard him not. — Are you a man ? 

Macbeth. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that 
Which might appal the devil. 

Lady Macbeth. proper stuff ! 6o 

This is the very painting of your fear : 
This is the air-drawn dagger, which, you said. 
Led you to Duncan. 0, these flaws and starts, 
Impostors to true fear, would well become 
A woman's story at a winter's fire, 65 

Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself ! 
Why do you make such faces ? When all's done, 
You look but on a stool. 

Macbeth. Prithee, see there ! behold ! look ! lo ! how 
say you ? 
Why, what care I ? If thou canst nod, speak too. 70 
If charnel-houses and our graves must send 
Those that we bury back, our monuments 
Shall be the maws of kites. \^Sx{t Ghost. 

Lady Macbeth. What, quite unmann'd in folly ? 

Macbeth. If I stand here, I saw him. 

Lady Macbeth. Pie, for shame ! 

Macbeth. Blood hath been shed ere now^ i' the olden 
time, 75 

Ere humane ^ statute purged the gentle weal : 
Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd 
Too terrible for the ear : the time ^ has been. 
That when the brains were out the man would die, 
And there an end 5 but now they rise again, so 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 95 

Witli twenty mortal murders * on their crowns, 
And push us from our stools. This is more strange 
Than such a murder is. 

Lady Macbeth. My worthy lord, 

Your noble friends do lack you. 

Macbeth. I do forget. — 

Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends ; 85 

I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing 
To those that know me. Come, love and health to all ; 
Then I'll sit down. Give me some wine ; fill full. 
I drink to the general joy o' the whole table, 
And to our dear friend Banquo, whoni we miss ; 90 

Would he were here ! to all, and him, we thirst, 
And all to all. 

LoKDS. Our duties, and the pledge. 

\^Re-enter Ghost. 

Macbeth. Avaunt ! and quit my sight ! let the earth 
hide thee ! 
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold ; 
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes 95 

Which thou dost glare with. 

Lady Macbeth. Think of this, good peers, 

But as a thing of custom : 'tis no other ; 
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. 

Macbeth. What man dare, I dare : 
Approach thou like the rugged Bussian bear, 100 

The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger ; 
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 
Shall never tremble : or be alive again, 



96 SHAKESPEARK Act III. 

And dare me to the desert with thy sword ; 

If trembling I inhabit then/ protest me 105 

The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow ! 

Unreal mockery, hence ! [ Ghost disappears. 

Why, so ; being gone, 
I am a man again. Pray yon, sit still. 

Lady Macbeth. You have displaced the mirth, broke 
the good meeting. 
With most admired disorder. 

Macbeth. Can such things be, 110 

And overcome us like a summer's cloud. 
Without our special wonder ? You make me strange 
Even to the disposition that I owe, 
When now I think you can behold such sights, 
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, 115 

When mine is ^ blanch' d with fear. 

Ross. What sights, my lord ? 

Lady Macbeth. I pray you, speak not ; he grows 
worse and worse ; 
Question enrages him. At once, good night : 
Stand not upon the order of your going, 
But go at once. 

Lennox. Good night ; and better health 120 

Attend his majesty ! 

Lady Macbeth. A kind ^ood night to all ! 

[^Exeunt all hut Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. 

Macbeth. It will have blood; they say blood will 
have blood : 
Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak ; 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 97 

Augurs ' and understood relations have 

By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth 125 

The secret' st man of blood. — What is the night ? 

Lady Macbeth. Almost at odds with morning, which 
is which. 

Macbeth. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his 
person 
At our great bidding ? 

Lady Macbeth. Did you send to him, sir ? 

Macbeth. I hear it by the way ; but I will send : 130 
There's not a one ^ of them but in his house 
I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow, 
And betimes I will, to the weird ^ sisters : 
More shall they speak ; for now I'm bent to know, 
By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good 135 
All causes shall give way : I am in blood 
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, 
Eeturning were as tedious as go o'er. 
Strange things I have in head that will to hand, 
Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd. 140 

Lady Macbeth. You lack the season of all natures, 
sleep. 

Macbeth. Come, we'll to sleep. My strange and self- 
abuse 
Is the initiate fear, that wants hard use : 
We are yet but young in deed. \_Exeunt. 



98 SHAKESPEAEE. Act m. 

Scene V. A heath. Thunder. 
Enter the three Witches, meeting Hecate. 

First Witch. Why, how now, Hecate ! you look 
angerly. 

Hecate. Have I not reason, beldams as you are, 
Saucy and overbold ? How did you dare 
To trade and traffic with Macbeth 

In riddles and affairs of death ; 5 

And I, the mistress of your charms. 
The close contriver of all harms. 
Was never call'd to bear my part. 
Or show the glory of our art ? 

And, which is worse, all you have done 10 

Hath been but for a wayward son, 
Spiteful and wrathful ;' who, as others do, 
Loves for his own ends, not for you. 
But make amends now : get you gone, 
And at the pit of Acheron 15 

Meet me i' the morning : thither he 
Will come to know his destiny : 
Your vessels and your spells provide. 
Your charms, and every thing beside. 
I am for the air ; this night I'll spend , 20 

Unto a dismal and a fatal end : 
Great business must be wrought ere noon : 
Upon the corner of the moon 
There hangs a vapourous drop profound 5 



Scene VI. MACBETH, 99 

I'll catch it ere it come to ground : 25 

And that, distilPd by magic sleights 

Shall raise such artificial sprites. 

As by the strength of their illusion 

Shall draw him on to his confusion : 

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear 30 

His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear ; 

And you all know security 

Is mortals' chief est enemy. 

l^Music and a song within : ' Come away, 

come away,' ^ etc. 

Hark ! I am call'd ; my little spirit, see, 

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me. \_Exit. 35 

First Witch. Come, let's make haste \ she'll soon be 

back again. [^Exeunt. 

Scene YI. Forres. The palace. 

Enter Lennox and another Lord. 

Lennox. My former speeches have but hit your 
thoughts. 
Which can interpret further : only I say 
Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan 
Was pitied of Macbeth ; marry, he was dead : 
And the right- valiant Banquo walk'd too late ; 5 

Whom, you may say, if 't please you, Fleance killed, 
For Fleance^ fled. Men must not walk too late. 
Who cannot want the thought, how monstrous 



100 SHAKESPEARE, Act III. 

It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain 

To kill their gracious father ? damned fact ! lo 

How it did grieve Macbeth ! did he not straight, 

In pious rage, the two delinquents tear, 

That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep ? 

Was not that nobly done ? Ay, and wisely too ; 

For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive is 

To hear the men deny't. So that, I say, 

He has borne all things well : and I do think 

That, had he Duncan's sons under his key, — 

As, an't please heaven, he shall not, — they should find 

What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance. 20 

But, peace ! for from broad words, and 'cause he fail'd 

His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear, 

Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell 

Where he bestows himself ? 

Lord. _ The son ^ of Duncan, 

From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, 25 

Lives in the English court ; and is received 
Of the most pious Edward with such grace. 
That the malevolence of fortune nothing 
Takes from his high respect. Thither Macduff 
Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid 30 

To wake Northumberland and warlike Si ward ; 
That by the help of these, with Him above 
To ratify the work, we may again 
Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights; 
Free ^ from our feasts and banquets bloody knives ; 35 
Do faithful homage, and receive free honours j 



Scene I. MACBETH. 101 

All which we pine for now : and this report 
Hath so exasperate the* king, that he 
Prepares for some attempt of war. 

Lennox. Sent he to Macduff ? 

Lord. He did : and with an absolute ' Sir, not I,' 40 
The cloudy messenger turns me his back. 
And hums, as who should say, ' You'll rue the time 
That clogs me with this answer.' 

Lennox. And that well might 

Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance 
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel 45 

riy to the court of England, and unfold 
His message ere he come ; that a swift blessing 
May soon return to this our suffering country 
Under a hand accursed ! 

Lord. I'll send my prayers with him. \_Exeunt. 



ACT IV. 

Scene I. A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. 

Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 

First Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath ^ mew'd. 
Second Witch. Thrice and once the hedge-pig 

whin'd. 
Third Witch. Harpier ^ cries : — ' 'Tis time, 'tis 

time.' 



102 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 

First Witch. Eound about the cauldron go j 
In the poison'd entrails throw 5 

Toad, that under ^ cold stone 
Days and night has thirty-one 
Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; lo 

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. 

Second Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake. 
In the cauldron boil and bake ; 
Eye of newt and toe of frog, 

Wool of bat and tongue of dog, 15 

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting. 
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing. 
For a charm of powerful trouble. 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 20 

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. 

Third Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, 
Witches' * mummy, maw and gulf 
Of the ravin' d salt-sea shark. 

Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, 25 

Liver of blaspheming Jqv^^, 
Gall of goat and slips of yew 
Sliverd in the moon's eclipse, 
Kose of Turk and Tartar's lips, 

Finger of birth-strangled babe, so 

Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, 
Make the gruel thick and slab : 



Scene I. MACBETH. 103 

Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, 
For the ingredients of our cauldron. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 35 

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. 

Second Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood ; 
Then the charm is firm and good. 

Enter Hecate.^ 

Hecate. 0, well done ! I commend your pains ; 
And every one shall share i' the gains. 40 

And now about the cauldron sing, 
Like elves and fairies in a ring. 
Enchanting all that you put in. 

\_MusiG and a song : ' Black spirits,' ^ etc. 

Exit Hecate. 
Second Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Something wicked this way comes : — 45 

Open, locks. 
Whoever knocks ! 
Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. How now, you seci'et, black, and midnight 
hags ! 
What is't you do ? 

All. a deed without a name. 

Macbeth. I conjure you, by that which you profess, 
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me : 51 

Though you untie the winds, and let them fight 
Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 



104 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 

Confound and swallow navigation up ; 

Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down ; 55 

Though castles topple on their warders' heads ; 

Though palaces and pyramids do slope 

Their heads to their foundations ; though the treasure 

Of nature's germens '^ tumble all together, 

Even till destruction sicken ; answer me . 60 

To what I ask you. 

First Witch. Speak. 
Second Witch. Demand. 

Third Witch. We'll answer. 

EiRST W^iTCH. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from 
our mouths, 
Or from our masters ? 

Macbeth. Call 'em, let me see 'em. 

First Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten 
Her nine farrow ; grease that's sweaten 65 

From the murderer's gibbet throw 
Into the flame. 
All. Come, high or low ; 

Thyself and office deftly show ! 

Thunder. First Apparition: an armed Head, 

Macbeth. Tell me, thou unknown power, — 
First Witch. He knows thy thought : 

Hear his speech, but say thou nought. 70 

First Apparition. Macbeth ! Macbeth ! Macbeth ! 
beware Macduff; 



Scene I. MACBETH. 105 

Beware the thane of Fife. . Dismiss me : enough. 

\^DesGends. 

Macbeth. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution 

thanks ; 

Thou hast harp'd my fear aright : but one word more, — 

First Witch. He will n@t be commanded : here's 

another, 75 

More potent than the first. 

Thunder. Second Apparition : a Moody Child. 

Second Apparition. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! 

Macbeth. Had I three ears, I'd hear thee. 

Second Apparition. Be bloody, bold, and resolute; 
laugh to scorn 
The power of man, for none of woman born so 

Shall harm Macbeth. \^Descends. 

Macbeth. Then live, Macduff-: what need I fear of 
thee? 
But yet I'll make assurance double sure. 
And take a bond of fate : thou shalt not live ;. 
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, 85 

And sleep in spite of thunder. 

Thunder. Third Apparition : a Child crowned with a 
tree in his hand. 

What is this, 
That rises like the issue of a king, 
And wears upon his baby-brow the round 
And top of sovereignty ? 



106 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 

All. Listen, but speak not to't. 

Third Apparition. Be lion-mettled, proud, and take 
no care 90 

Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are : 
Macbeth shall never vanquish' d be until 
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill 
Shall come against him. \_Descends. 

Macbeth. That will never be : 

Who can impress the forest, bid the tree 95 

Unjfix his earth-bound root ? Sweet bodements ! good ! 
Rebellion's head ^ rise never, till the wood 
Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth 
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath 
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart 100 

Throbs to know one thing : tell me, — if your art 
Can tell so much, — shall Banquo's issue ever 
E-eign in this kingdom ? 

All. Seek to know no more. 

Macbeth. I will be satisfied : deny me this. 
And an eternal curse fall on you ! Let me know, — 105 
Why sinks that cauldron ? and what noise is this ? 

\_IIautboys. 

First Witch. Show ! 

Second Witch. Show ! 

Third Witch. Show ! 

All. Show his eyes, and grieve his heart; ,110 

Come like shadows, so depart ! 

A show of eight Kings, the last with a glass in his hand y 
Banquo's Ghost following. 



Scene I. MACBETH. 107 

Macbeth. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo ; 
down ! 
Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. — And thy hair, 
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. — 
A third is like the former. — Filthy hags ! 115 

Why do you show me this ? — A fourth ! — Start, eyes ! 
What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom ? 
Another yet ! — A seventh ! — I'll see no more : — 
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass 
Which shows me many more ; and some I see 120 

That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry : 
Horrible sight ! — ^ Now I see 'tis true ; 
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me. 
And points at them for his. — ^^ What, is this so ? 

First Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so : but why 125 
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly ? 
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprights, ' 
And show the best of our delights : 
I'll charm the air to give a sound, 
W^hile you perform your antic round, 130 

That this great king may kindly say 
Our duties did his welcome pay. 

\^Miisio. The Witches dance, and then van- 
ish, with Hecate. 
Macbeth. Where are they ? Gone ? Let this per- 
nicious hour 
Stand aye accursed in the calendar ! — 
Come in, without there ! 



108 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 



Enter Lennox. 

Lennox. What's your grace's will ? 135 

Macbeth. Saw you the weird ^^ sisters ? 

Lennox. No, my lord. 

Macbeth. Came they not by you ? 

Lennox. No, indeed, my lord. 

Macbeth. Infected be the air whereon they ride. 
And damn'd all those that trust them ! — I did hear 
The galloping of horse : who was't came by ? 140 

Lennox. 'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you 
word 
Macduff is fled to England. 

Macbeth. Eled to England ! 

Lennox. Ay, my good lord. 

Macbeth. \_Aside.'] Time, thou anticipat'st my dread 
exploits : 
The flighty purpose never is o'ertook 145 

Unless the deed go with it : from this moment 
The very firstlings of my heart shall be 
The firstlings of my hand. And even now. 
To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done : 
The castle of Macduff I will surprise ; 150 

Seize upon Eif e ; give to the edge o' the sword 
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls 
That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool ; 
This deed I'll do before this purpose cool : 
But no more sights ! — Where are these gentlemen ? 155 
Come, bring me where they are. \_Exeunt. 



Scene U. MACBETH. 109 

ScE]!«'E 11. Fife, A room in Macduff^s castle. 
Enter Lady Macduff, her Son, and Ross. 

Lady Macduff. What had he done, to make him fly 
the land ? 

Ross. You must have patience, madam. 
^ Lady Macduff. He had none : 

His flight was madness : when our actions do. not, 
Our fears do make us traitors. 

Ross. You know not 

Whether it was his wisdom or his fear. 

Lady Macduff. Wisdom ! to leave his wife, to leave 
his babes, 
His mansion and his titles, in a place 
From whence himself does fly ! He loves us not ; 
He wants the natural touch : for the poor wren. 
The most diminutive of birds, will fight, lo 

Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. 
All is the fear and nothing is the love ; 
As little is the wisdom, where the flight 
So runs against all reason. 

Ross. My dearest coz, 

I pray you, school yourself : but, for your husband, 15 
He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows 
The fits o'the season. I dare not speak much further: 
But cruel are the times, when we are traitors 
And do not know ourselves ; when we hold rumour 
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, 20 



110 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 

But float upon a wild and violent sea 

Each way and move. I take my leave of you : 

Shall not be long but Pll be here again. 

Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward 

To what they were before. — My pretty cousin, 25 

Blessing upon you ! 

Lady Macduff. Father'd he is, and yet he's father- 
less. 
Boss. I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, 
It would be my disgrace and your discomfort : 
I take my leave at once. [_Exlt. 

Lady Macduff. Sirrah, your father's dead : 30 

And what will you do now ? How will you live ? 
Soj^. As birds do, mother. 
Lady Macduff. What, with worms and 

flies? 
Son. With what I get, I mean ; and so do they. 
Lady Macduff. Poor bird ! thou'ldst never fear the 
net nor lime, 
The pitfall nor the gin. 35 

Son. Why should I, mother ? Poor birds they are 
not set for. 
My father is not dead, for all your saying. 

Lady Macduff. Yes, he is dead: how wilt thou do 
for a father ? 
. Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband ? 
Lady Macduff. Why, I can buy me twenty at any 
market. 40 

Son. Then you'll buy 'em to sell again. 



Scene II. MACBETH. Ill 

Lady Macduff. Thou speak'st with all thy wit, and 
yet, i' faith, 
With wit enough for thee. 

Son. Was my father a traitor, mother ? 

Lady Macduff. Ay, that he was. - 45 

Sojsr. What is a traitor ? 

Lady Macduff. Why, one that swears and lies. 

Son. And be all traitors that do so ? 

Lady Macduff. Every one that does so is a traitor, 
and must be hang'd. 50 

Sojst. And must they all be hang'd that swear and lie ? 

Lady Macduff. Every one. 

Son. AVho must hang them ? 

Lady Macduff. Why, the honest men. 54 

Son. Then the liars and swearers are fools ; for there 
are liars and swearers enow to beat the honest men, and 
hang up them. 

Lady Macduff. Now, God help thee, poor monkey ! 

But how wilt thou do for a father ? 59 

. Son. If he were dead, you'ld weep for him : if you 

would not, it were good sign that I should quickly have 

a new father. 

Lady Macduff. Poor prattler, how thou talk'st ! 

Enter a Messenger. 

Messenger. Bless you, fair dame ! I am not to you 
known, 
Though in your state of honour I am perfect. 65 

I doubt some danger does approach you nearly : 



112 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV, 

If you will take a homely man's advice, 

Be not found here ; hence, with your little ones. 

To fright you thus, methinks I am too savage ; 

To do worse to you were fell cruelty, 70 

Which is too nigh your person. Heaven preserve you ! 

I dare abide* no longer. [^Sxlt. 

Lady Macduff. Whither ^ should I fly ? 

I have done no harm. But I remember now 
I am in this earthly world, where to do harm 
Is often laudable ; to do good, sometime 75 

Accounted dangerous folly : why then, alas, 
Do I put up that womanly defence, 
To say I have done no harm ? — 

Enter Murderers. 

What are these faces ? 
First Murderer. Where is your husband ? 
Lady Macduff. I hope, in no place so unsanctified 
Where such as thou mayst find him. 

EiRST Murderer. He's a traitor, si 

Son. Thou liest, thou shag-hair'd ^ villain. 
First Murderer. What, you Qg^ ! 

Young fry of treachery ! \_Stahbing him. 

Son. He has kill'd me, mother : 

Bun away, I pray you ! [i)/es. 

[^Exit Lady Macduff, cryi7ig, ^ Murder ! ' 
Exeunt Mur^derei's, following her. 



Scene Ul. MACBETH. 113 

Scene III. England. Before the King's palace. 
Enter Malcolm and Macduff. 

Malcolm. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and 
there 
Weep our sad bosoms empty. 

Macduff. Let us rather 

Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men 
Bestride our down-fall'n^ birthdom. Each new morn 
New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows 5 

Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds 
As if it felt with Scotland and yell'd out 
Like syllable of dolour. 

Malcolm. What I believe, 1^11 wail ; 

What know, believe ; and what I can redress, 
As I shall find the time to friend, I will. 10 

What you have spoke, it may be so, perchance. 
This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues. 
Was once thought honest : you have lov'd him well ; 
He hath not touch'd you yet. I am young ; but some- 
thing 
You may deserve ^ of him through me ; and wisdom 15 
To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb, 
To appease an angry god. 

Macduff. I am not treacherous. 

Malcolm. But Macbeth is. 

A good and virtuous nature may recoil 
In an imperial charge. But I shall crave your pardon ; 



114 SHAKESPEABE. . Act IV. 

That which you are, my thoughts cannot transpose : 21 
Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell : 
Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, 
Yet grace must still look so. 

Macduff. I have lost my hopes. 

Malcolm. Perchance even there where I did find my 
doubts. 25 

Why in that rawness left you wife and child, 
Those precious motives, those strong knots of love, 
Without leave-taking ? I pray you. 
Let not my jealousies be your dishonours, 
But mine own safeties. You may be rightly just, so 
Whatever I shall think. 

Macduff. Bleed, bleed, poor country ! 

Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure, 
For goodness dare ^ not check thee ! wear thou thy 

wrongs ; 
The * title is affeer'd ! ^ — Fare thee wxll, lord : 
I would not be the villain that thou think'st 35 

For the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp, 
And the rich East to boot. 

Malcolm. Be not offended : 

I speak not as in absolute fear of you. 
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke ; 
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash 40 

Is added to her wounds : I think withal 
There would be hands uplifted in my right ; 
And here from gracious England have I offer 
Of goodly thousands : but for all this, 



Scene III. MACBETH. 115 

When T shall tread upon the tyrant's head, 45 

Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country 
Shall have more vices than it had before, 
More suffer and more sundry ways than ever. 
By him that shall succeed. 

Macduff. What should he be ? 

Malcolm. It is myself I mean ; in whom I know 50 
All the particulars of vice so grafted 
That, when they shall be open'd, black Macbeth 
Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state 
Esteem him as a lamb, being compared 
With my confineless harms. 

Macduff. Not in the legions 55 

Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd 
In evils to top Macbeth. 

Malcolm. I grant him bloody, 

Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful^ 
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin 
That has a name : but there's no bottom, none, 60 

In my voluptuousness : your wives, your daughters, 
Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up 
The cistern of my lust, and my desire 
All continent impediments would o'erbear. 
That did oppose my will. Better Macbeth 65 

Than such a one to reign. 

Macduff. Boundless intemperance 

In nature is a tyranny ; it hath been 
The untimely emptying of the happy throne. 
And fall of many kings. But fear Dot yet 



116 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 

To take upon you what is yours : you may 70 

Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, 

And yet seem cold, tlie time you may so hoodwink. 

We have willing dames enough ; there cannot be 

That vulture in you, to devour so many 

As will to greatness dedicate themselves, 75 

Pinding it so inclined. 

Malcolm. With this, there grows 

In my most ill-compos'd affection such 
A staunchless avarice that, were I king, 
I should cut off the nobles for their lands, 
Desire his jewels and this other's house : 80 

And my more-having would be as a sauce 
To make me hunger more, that I should forge 
Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, 
Destroying them for wealth. 

Macduff. This avarice 

Sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root 85 

Than summer-seeming lust, and it hath been 
The sword of our slain kings : yet do not fear ; 
Scotland hath foisons to fill up your will 
Of your mere own : all these are portable. 
With other graces weigh'd. 90 

Malcolm. But I have none. The king-becoming 
graces. 
As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, 
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, 
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, 
I have no relish of them, but abound 95 



Scene III. MACBETH. 117 

In the division of each several crime. 



'J 



Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should 
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, 
Uproar the universal peace, confound 
All unity on earth. 

Macduff. Scotland, Scotland ! loo 

Malcolm. If such a one be fit to govern, speak : 
I am as I have spoken. 

Macduff. Fit to govern ! 

ISTo, not to live. — nation miserable, 
With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred, 
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, i05 

Since that the truest issue of thy throne 
By his own interdiction stands accursed. 
And does blaspheme his breed ? — Thy royal father 
Was a most sainted king : the queen that bore thee, 
Oftener upon her knees than on her feet, no 

Died every day she lived.^ — Fare thee well ! 
These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself 
Have banish'd me from Scotland. — my breast, 
Thy hope ends here ! 

Malcolm. Macduff, this noble passion, 

Child of integrity, hath from my soul 115 

Wiped the black scruples, reconciled my thoughts 
To thy good truth and honour. Devilish Macbeth 
By many of these trains hath sought to win me 
Into his power ; and modest wisdom plucks me 
From over-credulous haste : but God above 120 

Deal between thee and me ! for even now 



118 SHAKESPEARE. Act IV. 

I put myself to thy direction, and 
Unspeak mine own detraction ; here abjure 
The taints and blames I laid upon myself, 
For strangers to my nature. I am yet 125 

Unknown to woman, never Avas forsworn. 
Scarcely h^ve coveted what was mine own. 
At no time broke my faith, would not betray 
The devil to his fellow, and delight 
ISTo less in truth than life : my first false speaking 130 
AVas this upon myself. What I am truly 
Is thine and my poor country's to command ; 
Whither, indeed, before thy' here-approach. 
Old Siward, with ten thousand warlike men. 
Already at a point, was setting forth. 135 

Now we'll together, and the chance of goodness 
Be like our warranted quarrel ! Why are you silent ? 
Macduff. Such welcome and unw^elcome things at 
once 
'Tis hard to reconcile. 

Enter a Doctor. 

Malcolm. Well, more anon. — Comes the king forth, 
I pray you ? 140 

Doctor. Ay, sir : there are a crew of wretched souls 
That stay his cure : their malady convinces 
The great assay of art ; but at his touch. 
Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, 
They presently amend. 



Scene UL MACBETH. 119 

Malcolm. I thank jou, doctor. 145 

[^^xit Doctor. 

Macduff. What's the disease he means ? 

Malcolm. 'Tis calPd the evil : 

A most miraculous work in this good king ; 
Which often, since my here-remain in England, 
I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven. 
Himself best knows : but strangely-visited people, 150 
All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, 
The mere despair of surgery, he cures. 
Hanging a golden stamp about their necks, 
Put on with holy prayers : and 'tis spoken, 
To the succeeding royalty he leaves 155 

The healing benediction. With this strange virtue 
He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy ; 
And sundry blessings hang about his throne, 
That speak him full of grace. 

Enter Eoss. 

Macduff. See, who comes here ? 

Malcolm. My countryman ; but yet I know him not. 

Macduff. My ever-gentle cousin, welcome hither, lei 

Malcolm. I know him now : good God, betimes re- 
move 
The means that makes us strangers ! 

E,oss. Sir, amen. 

Macduff. Stands Scotland where it did ? 

Ross. Alas, poor country ! 



120 SHAKESPEARE, Act IV. 

Almost afraid to know itself ! It cannot les 

Be call'd our mother, but our grave : where nothing, 
But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile ; 
Where sighs and groans and shrieks that rend the air. 
Are made, not mark'd ; where violent sorrow seems 
A modern ecstasy : the dead man's knell 170 

Is there scarce ask'd for who ; and good men's lives 
Expire before the flowers in their caps, 
Dying or ere they sicken. 

Macduff. 0, relation 

Too nice, and yet too true ! 

Malcolm. What's the newest grief ? 

Boss. That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker ; 
Each minute teems a new one. 

Macduff. How does my wife ? i76 

Boss. Why, well. 

Macduff. And all my children ? 

Boss. • Well too. 

Macduff. The tyrant has not batter'd at their peace ? 

Boss. No ; they were well at peace when I did leave 
'em. 

Macduff. Be not a niggard of your speech : how 
goes 't ? ' 180 

Boss. When I came hither to transport the tidings, 
Which I have heavily borne, there ran a rumour 
Of many worthy fellows that were out ; 
Which was to my belief witness'd the rather, 
For that I saw the tyrant's power a-foot. 185 

Now is the time of help : your eye in Scotland 



Scene IH. MACBETH. 121 

Would create soldiers, make our women fight, 
To doff their dire distresses. 

Malcolm. Be't their comfort 

We're coming thither : gracious England hath 
Lent us good Siward and ten thousand men ; i90 

An older and a better soldier none 
That Christendom gives out. 

Koss. Would I could answer 

This comfort with the like ! But I have words 
That would be howPd out in the desert air, 
Where hearing should not latch them. 

Macduff. - What concern they ? 195 

The general cause ? or is it a fee-grief 
Due to some single breast ? 

Ross. No mind that's honest 

But in it shares some woe, though the main part 
Pertains to you alone. 

Macduff. If it be mine, 

Keep it not from me, quickly let me have it. 200 

Ross. Let not your ears despise my tongue for ever, 
Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound 
That ever yet they heard. . 

Macduff. Hum ! I guess at it. 

Ross. Your castle is surpris'd 5 your wife and babes 
Savagely slaughter'd : to relate the manner, 205 

Were, on the quarry of these murder'd deer, 
To add the death of you. 

Malcolm. Merciful heaven ! — 

What, man ! ne'er pull your hat upon your browsj 



122 SHAKESPEABK Act IV. 

Give sorrow words ; the grief that does not speak 
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break. 210 

Macduff. My children too ? 

Ross. ' Wife, children, servants, all 

That could be found. 

Macduff. And I must be from thence ! — 

My wife kill'd too ? 

Eoss. I have said. 

Malcolm. Be comforted: 

Let's make us medicines of our great revenge, 
To cure this deadly grief. 215 

Macduff. He has no children. — All my pretty ones ? 
Did you say all ? — hell-kite ! — All ? 
What ! all my pretty chickens and their dam 
At one fell swoop ? 

Malcolm. Dispute it like a man. 

Macduff. I shall do so ; 220 

But I must also feel it as a man : 
I cannot but remember such things were, 
That were most precious to me. — Did heaven look on. 
And would not take their part ? Sinful Macduff, 
They were all struck for thee ! naught that I am, 225 
Not for their own demerits, but for mine. 
Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now ! 

Malcolm. Be this the whetstone of your sword : let 
grief 
Convert to anger ; blunt not the heart, enrage it. 

Macduff. 0, I could play the woman with mine 
eyes, 230 



Scene I. MACBETH. 123 

And braggart with my tongue ! — But, gentle heavens,^ 
Cut short all intermission ; front to front 
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself ; 
Within my sword's length set him ; if he 'scape, 
Heaven forgive him too ! 

Malcolm. - This tune ^ goes manly. 235 

Come, go we to the king : our power is ready ; 
Our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth 
Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above 
Put on their instruments. Beceive what cheer you may : 
The night is long that never finds the day. \_Exeunt. 240 



ACTY. 

Scene I. Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle. 
Enter a Doctor of Physic and a waiting Gentlewoman. 

Doctor. I have two nights watched with you, but 
can perceive no truth in your report. When was it she 
last walked ? 

Gentlewoman. Since his majesty went into the field, 
I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown 
upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, 
write upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return 
to bed ; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. 8 

Doctor. A great perturbation in nature, to receive 
at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watch- 
ing ! In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking 



124 SEAKESPEABE. Act V. 

and other actual performances, what, at any time, have 
you heard her say ? 

Gentlewoman. That, sir, which I will not report 
after her. 15 

Doctor. You may to me, and 'tis most meet you 
should. 

Gentlewoman. Neither to you nor any one, having 
no witness to confirm my speech. 

Enter Lady Macbeth, with a taper. 

Lo you, here she comes ! This is her very guise ; and, 
upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her ; stand close. 21 

Doctor. How came she by that light ? 

Gentlewoman. Why, it stood by her : she has light 
by her continually ; 'tis her command. 

Doctor. You see, her eyes are open. 25 

Gentlewoman. Ay, but their sense is shut. 

Doctor. What is it she does now ? Look, how she 
rubs her hands. 

Gentlewoman. It is an accustomed action with her, 
to seem thus washing her hands : I have known her con- 
tinue in this a quarter of an hour. 31 

Lady Macbeth. Yet here's a spot. 

Doctor. Hark ! she speaks : I will set down what 
comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more 
strongly. 35 

Lady Macbeth. Out, damned spot! out, I say! — 
One : two : why, then 'tis time to do't. — Hell is murky ! 
— Fie, my lord, fie ! a soldier, and afeard ? What need 



Scene I. MACBETH. 125 

we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to 
account ? — Yet who would have thought the old man 
to have had so much blood in him ? 4i 

Doctor. Do you mark that ? 

Lady Macbeth. The thane of Fife had a wife; where 
is she now ? — What, will these hands ne'er be clean ? — 
No more o' that, my lord ; no more o' that : you mar all 
with this starting. 46 

Doctor. Go to, go to ; you have known what you 
should not. 

Gentlewoman. She has spoke what she should not, 
I am sure of that : heaven knows what she has known. 

Lady Macbeth. Here's the smell of the blood still : 
all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little 
hand. Oh! oh! oh! 

Doctor. What a sigh is there ! The heart is sorely 
charged. 55 

Gentlewoman. I would not have such a heart in my 
bosom for the dignity of the whole body. 

Doctor. Well, well, well, — 

Gentlewoman. Pray God it be, sir. 59 

Doctor. This disease is beyond my practice : yet I 
have known those which have walked in their sleep who 
have died holily in their beds. 

Lady Macbeth. Wash your hands ; put on your 
nightgown ; look not so pale : — I tell you yet again, Ban- 
quo's buried ; he cannot come out on's grave. 65 

Doctor. Even so ? 

Lady Macbeth. To bed, to bed ; there's knocking 



126 SHAKESPEARE. Act V. 

at the gate : comej come, come, come, give me your hand : 
what's done cannot be undone : to bed, to bed, to bed. 

[Exit. 

DocTOE,. Will she go now to bed ? 70 

Gentlewoman. Directly. 

Doctor. Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural 
deeds 
Do breed unnatural troubles : infected minds 
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets . 
More needs she the divine than the physician. — 75 

God, God forgive us all ! — Look after her ; 
Remove from her the means of all annoyance. 
And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night : 
My mind she has mated and amazed my sight : 
I think, but dare not speak. 

Gentlewoman. Good night, good doctor, so 

[JSxeunt. 

Scene II. The country near Dunsinane. 

Drum and colours. Enter Menteith, Caithness, 
Angus, Lennox, and Soldiers. 

Menteith. The English power is near, led on by 
Malcolm, 
His uncle Siward and the good Macduff 
Kevenges burn in them ; for their dear causes 
Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm 
Excite the mortified man. 



Scene II. MACBETH. 127 

Angus. Near Birnam wood 5 

Shall we well meet them ; that way are they coming. 

Caithness. Who knows if Donalbain be with his 
brother ? 

Lennox. For certain, sir, he is not : I have a file 
Of all the gentry : there is Siward's son, 
And many unrough youths, that even now 10 

Protest their first of manhood. 

Menteith. What does the tyrant ? 

Caithness. Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies : 
Some say he's mad ; others, that lesser hate him, 
Do call it valiant fury : but, for certain. 
He cannot buckle his distempered cause ^ 15 

Within the belt of rule. 

Angus. Now does he feel 

His secret murders sticking on his hands ; 
Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach ; 
Those he commands move only in command, 
Nothing in love : now does he feel his title 20 

Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe 
Upon a dwarfish thief. 

Menteith. Who then shall blame 

His pester'd senses to recoil and start, 
When all that is within him does condemn 
Itself for being there ? 

Caithness. Well, march we on, 25 

To give obedience where 'tis truly owed : 
Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal, 
And with him pour we, in our country's purge. 
Each drop of us. 



128 SHAKESPEARE. Act V 

Lennox. Or so much as it needs. 

To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds. so 
Make we our march towards Birnam. 

\jExeunty TnarcJiing. 

Scene III. Dunsinane. A room in tJie castle. 
Enter Macbeth, Doctor, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. Bring me no more reports ; let them fly 

all: 
Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane 
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm ? 
Was he not born of woman ? The spirits that know 
All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus : 5 
* Fear not, Macbeth ; no man that's born of woman 
Shall e'er have power upon thee.' — Then fly, false 

thanes, 
And mingle with the English epicures : 
The mind I sway by and the heart I bear 
Shall never sag with doubt, nor shake with fear. 10 

Enter a Servant. 

The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon ! 

Where got'st thou that goose look ? 
Servant. There is ten thousand — 
Macbeth. Geese, villain ? 

Servant. Soldiers, sir. 



Scene IH MACBETH. 129 



Macbeth. Go prick thy face and over-red thy fear, 
Thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch ? 15 

Death of thy soul ! those linen cheeks of thine 
Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face ? 

Servant. The English force, so please you. 

Macbeth. Take thy face hence. [Exit Servant.~\ — 

Sey ton ! — I am sick at heart. 
When I behold — Seyton, I say ! — This push 20 

Will cheer ^ me ever, or dis-ease ^ me now. 
I have lived long enough : my way ^ of life 
Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf. 
And that which should accompany old age. 
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, 25 

I must not look to have ; but, in their stead, 
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, 
Which the poor heart would fain deny, and * dare not. — 
Seyton ! 

Enter Seyton. 

Seyton. What's your gracious pleasure ? 

Macbeth. What news more ? 30 

Seyton. All is confirm'd, my lord, which was re- 
ported. 

Macbeth. I'll fight, till from my bones my flesh be 
hack'd. — 
Give me my armour. 

Seyton. 'Tis not needed yet. 

Macbeth. I'll put it on. 
Send out more horses, skirr the country round j 35 



130 SHAEESPEAEE. Act V. 

Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armour. — 
•How does your patient, doctor ? 

Doctor. Not so sick, my lord. 

As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, 
That keep her from her rest. 

Macbeth. Cure her ^ of that. 

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, 4o 

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, 
Raze out the written troubles of the brain. 
And with some sweet oblivious antidote 
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
Which weighs upon the heart ? 

Doctor. Therein the patient 45 

Must minister to himself. 

Macbeth. Throw physic to the dogs, I'll none of it. 
Come put mine armour on ; give me my staff. — 
Seyton, send out. — Doctor, the thanes fly from me. — 
Come, sir, dispatch. — If thou could'st, doctor, cast 50 
The water of my land, find her disease 
And purge it to a sound and pristine health, 
I would applaud thee to the very echo. 
That should applaud again. — PulPt off, I say. — 
What rhubarb, senna,® or what purgative drug, 55 

Would scour these English hence ? Hear'st thou of them ? 

Doctor. Ay, my good lord ; your royal preparation 
Makes us hear something. 

Macbeth. Bring it after me. — 

I will not be afraid of death and bane 
Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane. \^Exit. 60 



Scene IV. MACBETH. 131 

Doctor. J^Aside.J Were I from Dunsinane away and 
clear, 
Profit again should hardly draw me here. [^Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Countiy near Birnam wood. 

Drum and colours. Enter Malcolm, o/c? Siward and 
his Son, Macduff, Menteith, Caithness, Angus, 
Lennox, Ross, and Soldiers marching. 

Malcolm. Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand 
That chambers will be safe. 

Menteith. We doubt it nothing. 

SiwARD. What wood is this before us ? 

Menteith. The wood of Birnam. 

Malcolm. Let every soldier hew him down a bough, 
And bear't before him : thereby shall we shadow 5 

The numbers of our host, and make discovery 
Err in report of us. 

Soldiers. It shall be done. 

SiwARD. We learn no other but the confident ty- 
rant 
Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure 
Our setting down before't. 

Malcolm. 'Tis his main hope : lo 

For where there is advantage to be given ^ 
Both more and less have given him the revolt. 
And none serve with him but constrained things 
Whose hearts are absent too. 



132 SHAKESPEABE. Act V. 

Macduff. Let our just censures 

Attend the true event, and put we on i5 

Industrious soldiership. 

SiwARD. The time approaches 

That will with due decision make us know 
What we shall say we have and what we owe. 
Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate, 
But certain issue strokes must arbitrate : 20 

Toward which advance the war. \_Exeu7it, marching. 

Scene Y. Dunsinane. Within the castle. 

Enter Macbeth, Seyton, and Soldiers, ivith drum and 

colours. 

Macbeth. Hang out our banners on the outward 
walls ; 
The cry is still, ^ They come ! ' Our castle's strength 
Will laugh a siege to scorn : here let them lie 
Till famine and the ague eat them up. 
Were they not forced with those that should be ours, 5 
We might have met them dareful, beard to beard. 
And beat them backward home. \_A cry of women within. 

What is that noise ? 
Seyton. It is the cry of women, my good lord. 

\_Exit. 
Macbeth. I have almost forgot the taste of fears 5 
The time has been, my senses would have cooPd ^ 10 

To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair 



Scene V. MACBETH. 133 

Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir 
As life were in't : I have supp'd full with, horrors ; 
Direuess, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, 
Cannot once start me. — 

Re-enter Seyton. 

Wherefore was that cry ? 15 

Seyton. The queen, my lord, is dead. 

Macbeth. She should have died hereafter; 
There would have been a time for such a word. 
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 20 

To the last syllable of recorded time ; 
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle ! 
Life's but a walking shadow ; a poor player 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage 25 

And then is heard no more : it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 
Signifying nothing. — 

Enter a Messenger. 

Thou comest to use thy tongue ; thy story, quickly. 

Messenger. Gracious my lord, so 

I should report that which I ^ say I saw. 
But know not how to do it. 

Macbeth. Well, say,^ sir. 

Messenger. As I did stand my watch upon the hill, 



134 SHAKESPEARE. Act V. 

I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought, 
The wood began to move. 

Macbeth. Liar and slave ! 35 

Messenger. Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so : 
Within this three mile may you see it coming ; 
I say, a moving grove. 

Macbeth. If thou speak'st false, 

Upon the next tree shalt * thou hang alive 
Till famine cling thee : if thy speech be sooth, 40 

I care not if thou dost for me as much. — 
I pull in resolution, and begin 
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend, 
That lies like truth : ' Fear not, till Birnam wood 
Do come to Dunsinane ; ' and now a wood 45 

Comes toward Dunsinane. — Arm, arm, and out ! — 
If this which he avouches does appear. 
There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. 
I 'gin to be a-weary of the sun. 

And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. — 50 
Ring the alarum-bell ! — Blow, wind ! come, wrack ! 
At least we'll die with harness on our back. \^Uxeunt. 



Scene VI. Dunsinane. Before the castle. 

Drum and colours. Enter Malcolm, old Siward, Mac- 
duff, and their Akmy, with houghs. 

Malcolm. Now near enough ; your leavy ^ screens 
throw down, 



Scene VII. MACBETH. 135 

And show like those you are. — You, .worthy uncle, 

Shall, with my cousin, your right-noble son. 

Lead our first battle : worthy Macduff and we 

Shall take upon's what else remains to do, 5 

According to our order. 

SiwARD. Fare you well. 

Do we but find the tyrant's power to-night, 
Let us be beaten, if we cannot fight. 

Macduff. Make all our trumpets speak ; give them 
all breath. 
Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death. 10 

\_Exeunt. 

Scene VII. Another part of the field. 
Alarums. Enter Macbeth. 
Macbeth. They have tied me to a stake ; I cannot 

fly, 

But, bear-like, I must fight the course. What's he 
That was not born of woman ? Such a one 
Am I to fear, or none. 

Enter young Siward. • 

Young Siwakd. What is thy name ? 

Macbeth. Thou'lt be afraid to hear it. 5 

Young Siward. No ; though thou call'st thyself a 
hotter name 
Than any is in hell. 

Macbeth. My name's Macbeth. 



136 SHAKESPEARE. Act V. 

Young Siward. The devil himself could not pro- 
nounce a title 
More hateful to mine ear. 

Macbeth. No, nor more fearful. 

Young Siward. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with 
my sword .^ lo 

I'll prove the lie thou speak'st. 

\_They fight, and young Siward is slain. 
Macbeth. Thou wast born of woman : — 

But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, 
Brandish'd by man that's of a woman born. \_Exit. 

Alarums. Enter Macduff. 

Macduff. That way the noise is. — Tyrant, show thy 
face ! 
If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, 15 

My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. 
I cannot strike at wretched kerns whose arms 
Are hir'd to bear their staves : either thou, Macbeth, 
Or else my sword, with an unbatter'd edge, 
I sheathe again undeeded. There thou should'st be j 20 
By this great clatter, one of greatest note 
Seems bruited. — Let me find him, fortune ! 
And more I beg not. \^Exit. Alarums. 

Enter Malcolm and old Siward. 

Siward. This way, my lord ; the castle's gently ren- 
der'd : 
The tyrant's people on both sides do fight ; 25 



Scene VIII. MACBETH. 137 

The noble thanes do bravely in the war ; 
The day almost itself professes yours, 
And little is to do. 

Malcolm. We have met with foes 

That strike beside us. 

SiwARD. Enter, sir, the castle. 

[Exeunt. Alarum. 

Scene VIII. Another part of the field. 

Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth, Why should I play the Roman fool, and die 
On mine own sword ? whiles I see lives, the gashes 
Do better upon them. 

Enter Macduff. 

Macduff. Turn, hell-hound, turn ! 

Macbeth. Of all men else I have avoided thee : 
But get thee back ; my soul is too much charged 5 

With blood of thine already. 

Macduff. I have no words, — 

My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain 
Than terms can give thee out! \_They fight. 

Macbeth. Thou losest labour : 

As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air 
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed : 10 

Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests ; 
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield 
To one of woman born. 



138 SHAKESPEARE. Act V. 

Macduff. Despair thy charm, 

And let the angel whom thou still hast served 
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb 15 

Untimely ripp'd. 

Macbeth. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, 
Por it hath cow'd my better part of man] 
And be these juggling fiends no more believed, 
That palter with us in a double sense; 20 

That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
And break it to our hope ! I'll not fight with thee. 

Macduff. Then yield thee, coward. 
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time : 
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, 25 

Painted upon a pole, and underwrit, 
^ Here may you see the tyrant.' 

Macbeth. I will not yield. 

To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, 
And to be baited with the rabble's curse. 
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, 30 

And thou opposed, being of no woman born. 
Yet I will try the last : before my body 
I throw my warlike shield : lay on, Macduff ; 
And damn'd be him ^ that first cries ^ Hold, enough ! ' 

[^^xeunt, fighting. Alarums. 

Retreat. Flourish. Enter, with drum and colours, Mal- 
colm, old SiwARD, Eoss, the other Thanes, and Sol- 
diers. 

Malcolm. I would the friends we miss were safe 
arrived. * 35 



Scene VIII. MACBETH. 139 

SiwARD. Some must go off ; and yet, by these I see, 
So great a day as this is cheaply bought. 

Malcolm. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. 

Ross. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt : 
He only lived but till he was a man ; 40 

The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd 
In the unshrinking station where he fought, 
But like a man he died. 

SiwARD. Then he is dead ? 

Eoss. Ay, and brought off the field : your cause of 
sorrow 
Must not be measured by his worth, for then 45 

It hath no end. 

SiwARD. Had he his hurts before ? 

Koss. Ay, on the front. 

SiwARD. Why, then God's soldier be he ! 

Had I as many sons as I have hairs, 
I would not wish them to a fairer death : 
And so his knell is knoll'd. 

Malcolm. He's worth more sorrow, 50 

And that I'll spend for him. 

SiwARD. He's worth no more : 

They say he parted well and paid his score : 
And so God be with ^ him ! — Here comes newer comfort. 

Re-enter Macduff, with Macbeth's head. 

Macduff. Hail, king ! for so thou art : behold, where 
stands 
The usurper's cursed head : the time is free. 65 



140 SHAKESPEARE. Act V. 

I see thee compass'd with, thy kingdom's pearl. 
That speak my salutation in their minds ; 
Whose voices I desire aloud with mine : 
Hail, King of Scotland ! 

All. Hail, King of Scotland ! 

\_Flourish. 

Malcolm. We shall not spend a large expense of 
time 60 

Before we reckon with your several loves, 
And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen. 
Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland 
In such an honour nam'd. What's more to do. 
Which would be planted newly with the time, — 65 

As calling home our exiled friends abroad 
That fled the snares of watchful tyranny ; 
Producing forth the cruel ministers 
Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like queen, 
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands ' 70 

Took off her life, — this, and what needful else 
That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace, 
We will perform in measure, time, and place : 
So thanks to all at once and to each one. 
Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone. 75 

\_Flourish. Ex&unt. 



TEXTUAL NOTES. 



Abbkeviatioks. — Cam., Cambridge (2d ed., 1892) ; D., Dyce (3d ed., 1875) ; 
Fi, First Folio, etc.; Fur., Furness (Variorum, 3d ed.); Han., Hanmer, 
Hud., Hudson (ed. 1885); Theob., Theobald. 

ACT I. — Scene I. 

1. iFi has (?) which eds. omit. 

2. 2 and, Hud., after Hanmer. 

9. ^AU. Padock calls anon: Fi, Cam.; D. gives to Sec. 
Witcli; Fur. as text, after Hunter. 

Scene II. 

Stage direction, i King and Captains, F^ , and so throughout. 

13. 2 QalloTi^grosses, Fi ; corrected in Fg. 

14. 3 Quarry, F^ ; most eds. quarrel, after Johnson. 

19. 4 Fi , Fur., Cam. ; D. and Hud. place Like valour's minion 
in one line. 

21. 5 And, D., Hud. — Fj has neu'r and bad in this line. 
26. 6 Fi omits break ; F2 , breaking. 

38. 7D. and Cam. place So they in separate line; Hud. omits 
doubly. 

Stage direction. 8 Enter Kosse and Angus, Fi, hefore Who 
conies here? 

46. 9 a haste, F^ , Cam. ; Fg omits a. 

50. 10 Fi , Cam., put Norway himself in following line. 

Scene III. 

6. 1 Aroynt, F^ . See Notes following. 
32. 2 weyward, Fj ; weird, Theohald. 

39. 3Soris, Fi; Foris, Pope; Forres, H. Rowe. 

141 



142 MACBETH. Act II. 

57. 4 vrrapt, Fi ; rapt, Pope. 

97. ^Xale, Fj, Hud., and others; liaU, D., Cam., Fur., after 
Rowe. 
107. 6 Omit Aside, Cam. ; inserted by Capell. 
125. "^ betray us, Eowe. 

Scene Y. 

20-23. See Fur. for various readings of this passage. 

Scene VI. 

5. 1 mansonry, F^ ; mansionry, Theob. 

13. 2God-eyld, Fi; God 'ild. Fur., Cam. ; God ild, D. ; God 
'ield. Hud. 

20. 3 Ermites, F^ ; Hermites, Fg . 

Scene VII. 

6. 1 Schoole, Fi ; shoal, Theob. 
41. 2 lack, Hud. 

60 (1). 8 fail. Hud., after Theob. (ed. 2). 

60(2). 4faile? Fi; faU! Fur., Cam., D., after Rowe; fail. Hud. 
I read fail I here in deference to Fur., Cam., D., but something may 
be said for Hud., fail. 

ACT II. — Scene I. 

13. lOflSces, Fi, Fur., Cam.; officers. Hud., D., who regards 
offices as " a sheer misprint." 

22. 2 We'd, Hud. Contraction necessary for rhythm, but unne- 
cessary to print it always. 

50. 3 Now, D. and Hud. before \ritclicraft ; inserted by Davenant. 

54. 4 sides, F^ ; strides. Pope. 

Scene II. 

16. 1 Fur. assigns Did not you speak? to Macbeth, and When ? 
Now? to Lady Macbeth, erasing ? after descended ?, following 
Hunter; F^ , Cam., D., Hud., as text. 

17. 2 1^ F^ ^ as often for ay. 

62 (1). 3 sea. Hud., after Rowe. 

62(2), 4 incarnardine, Fi ; incarnadine, Rowe. 



Act ra. TEXTUAL NOTES, 143 



Scene III. 

48. 1 obscene, Hud., after "Walker. 

70. ^D,, Hud., and others omit Ring the bell, regarding it as a 
stage direction, after Theobald. 
131. 3 neere, Fj ; near'. Hud. ; unnecessary, as near is comparative. 

Scene IV. 

ID., Hud., and others mark this as Scene II., uniting in one the 
three preceding scenes. 

14. 2 horse', D., Hud., after Walker. 
18. 3 eate, Fj ; ate, D. 

ACT III.— Scene I. 

15. 1 Lay, Hud., after Rowe. 
43. 2 God b' wi' you. Hud. 
56. 3 Caesar's, D., Hud. 

69. 4 Seedes, Fi ; seed. Pope. 
102 (1). 5 And not, D., Hud., after Rowe. 
102 (^). sworser. Hud. 
102(3). 7Say't, Fi,D., Hud. 

Scene II. 

13. 1 scorch'd, Fi ; scotcb'd, Theoh. 

20. 2 peace, Fj , Cam. ; place, Fg , Fur., D., Hud. 
34. 3 Vizards, Fi , Hud. 
37. 4Uve, Hud. 

Scene IV. 

14. 1 him. Hud. 

76. ^iiumane, F^, Cam., Hud. ; human, D., Fur. 

78. 3 times has, Fj ; times have, F2 ; time has. Cam., Fur,, D., 
Hud. 

81. 4 gashes. Hud., after Lettsom. 

105. 5 inhabit then, F^, Cam., Fur., Hud.; inhabit, then, F2; 
inhibit, Pope ; thee, Steevens ; inhibit thee, D. 

116. 6 are, D., Hud., after Malone. 

124. 5' Augures, Fi, Cam. ; Augurs, Fur., D., Hud., after Theob 



144 MACBETH. Act IV. 

131. 8 There is not one. Hud., after Pope. 

133. 9 weyard, F^ ; weird, Theob. ; wizard, F2 . 

Scene V. 

Before 34. 1 F^ has Musicke, and a Song, before ' Hark ! etc.' ; 
and Sing witliin. ' Come aw^ay, come away, etc.,' after it. 
See following Notes for words of the Song. 

Scene VI. 

8. 1 can now. Hud., after Cartwright. 

24. 2 Sonnes, Fj ; son, Theob. 

35. 2 Keep, Hud., after Lettsom. 

38. 4 tlieir, Fj ; tlie, Han. 

ACT IV. — Scene I. 

1. ihad. Fur. ; perhaps misprint. 

3. 2 Harpy, D., Hud., after Steevens. 

6. ^ D., Hud., insert tlie before cold, after Rowe. 
23. 4 Witches, Fi ; Witches,' Theob. ; Witch's, Hud. 
Stage direction after 38. ^ Enter Hecat, and the other three 
Witches, Fj ; Enter Hecate to the other three Witches, Cam. 
Stage direction after 4:3. ^ See following Notes for words of this Song. 
59. '' Natures Germaine, Fj ; germins. Cam. ; germens. Fur., 
D., Hud. 

97. SRehellious dead, Fj; head, Theob.; Rebellion's head, 
Han., after Theobald's conjecture. 
122. 9 D. and Hud. insert Nay before Now, after Pope. 
124. 10 Some eds. insert [Apparitions vanish] here. 
136. 11 Weyard, Fi ; weiird, Theob. ; wizard, F2 . 

Scene II. 

72. 1 w^hether, Fj ; wherefore. Hud. 

82. 2 shagge-ear'd, F^; shag-ear'd. Cam.; shag-hair'd. Fur., 
D., Hud., after Steevens' s conjecture. 

Scene III. 

4. 1 dow^nfall, Fj ; dow^n-fall'n, Johnson. 
15. 2 discerne, Fi ; deserve, Theob. 



Act V. TEXTUAL NOTES, 145 

33. 3 dares, F3 , and others. 
34 (1) . 4 Thy, D . , after Malone. 
34(2). 5aflFear'd, Fi; affeer'd, Han. 

111. 6iiu'd,Fi; lived, D., Hud. 

133. 7 they, Fj; thy, F.2; heere approach, Fi; here-approach. 
Pope. 

231. siieaven, D., Hud., after Pope. 

235. 9 time, Fj ; tune, Rowe. 

ACT v. — Scene II. 
15. 1 course, D., Hud., after Collier MS. 

Scene III. 

21 O), 1 cheere, F] ; cheer. Fur., Cam. ; chair, D., Hud. 

21 (2), 2 dis-eate, Fj ; dis-ease, F2 , Fur. ; disseat. Cam., D., Hud. 

22. 3 May, Johnson, which some follow. 

28. 4 hut, D., after Reed. 

39. 5 Yi omits her ; inserted in F^ . 

55. 6 Cjrme, Fj ; senna, F4 . 

Scene IV. 

11. ita'en, D., Hud., after Walker. . 

Scene V. 

10. 1 quaU'd, Hud., after Collier MS. 

31. 2i»d say,.Hud., after Hanmer. 

32. 3 say it. Hud., after Pope. 
39. 4 shaU, Fi ; shalt, Fg . 

Scene VI. 

1. 1 leafy, D., Hud., after Collier. 

Scene VIII. 

34. 1 he. Hud., after Pope. 

53. 2 God h' wi» him, D., Hud., after Singer. 

In F] , Scenes VII. and VIII. are continuous as Scena Septima. 

All readings marked F^ have been verified from my own copy of the 
First Folio. 



ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. 



The section marks (§) refer to Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. 

The plays of Shakespeare are referred to by the usual abbrevia- 
tions of their titles, as: A. Y. L., As You Like It; A. W., All's Well 
that Ends Well ; M. W., Merry Wives of Windsor ; M. A., Much Ado 
about Nothing, etc. 

C. P., Clarendon Press edition of Macbeth. 
Fi , First Folio of 1623, and so for the other Folios. 
Fur., Furness's Variorum edition of Macbeth. 
M. E., Middle English. 
O. E., Old English; i.e., Anglo-Saxon. 
. O. F., Old French. 
O. H. G., Old High German. 
S., Shakespeare. 
Other abbreviations will be readily understood. 



146 



EXPLANATORY NOTES. 



ACT I. -Scene I. 

1. Abbott says (§ 504) : " The verse with four accents is rarely- 
used by Shakspere except when witches or other extraordinary be- 
ings are introduced as speaking. Then he often uses a verse of four 
accents with rhyme." The witches speak in trochaic measure; Hec- 
ate, in iambic. This is important in separating the Hecate part from 
that of the other witches. In III. v. and IV. i. 125-132, the First 
"Witch uses iambics, which renders these speeches also suspicious; 
they are probably interpolated. 

3. hurlyburly, an onomatopoetic word, i.e., a word whose sound 
corresponds to its sense ; it is a reduplicated form expressive of dis- 
turbance, tumult. Cf. 1 H. IV., V. i. 178, and for hurly, T. of S., IV. 
i. 216; K. J., III. iv. 169; and 2 H. IV., III. i. 25. 

5. the should be slurred ; i.e., pronounced very lightly, th'. 

6. heath, pronounced heth, ea as in death, not as now. Cf. I. 
ii. 66. 

7. meet should be prolonged in sound, in6e-et. Cf . § 484 for ex- 
amples, as sweet. Ham., I. iii. 8, and sleep, Macb., II. i. 51 ; so Hail, 
Macb., I. ii. 5. 

8. GraymaLkin, gray cat. "The cat was supposed to be the 
form most commonly assumed by the familiar spirits of witches ; cf . 
IV. i. 1." — C. P. 

9. Paddock, toad. Cf. Ham., III. iv. 190. 

10. Anon, immediately. O.E., on an = in one (moment). Cf. 
1 H. IV., II. i. 5, 2iudi passim. 

11. "The witches, whose moral sense is thoroughly perverted, 
who choose the devil for their master, and do evil instead of good, 
love storm and rain as others love sunshine and calm." — C P. 

147 



148 MACBETH. Act I. 

12. Hover. § 466, *' Whetlier and ever are frequently written or 
pronounced vrhe'r or where and e'er. The th is also softened in 
either, hither, other, father, etc., and the v in having, evil," etc. 
This is questionable. I should prefer to pronounce Hov'r, slurring 
e, and slur the also. 

Scene II. 

On the genuineness of this scene see Appendix. 

3. sergeant, trisyllabic. § 479, "The termination -ion is fre- 
quently pronounced as two syllables at the end of a line. The i 
is also sometimes pronounced as a distinct syllable in soldier, etc. ; 
less frequently the e in surgeon, etc." Dissyllabic -ion in middle of 
a line is rarer. Cf. A. Y. L., II. vii. 41. 

5. Hail = ha-il, reverse rhythm, trochee in fourth foot. §484, 
" Monosyllables containing diphthongs and long vowels . . . are often 
so emphasized as to dispense with an unaccented syllable." . . . 
" Whether the word is dissyllabized, or merely requires a pause after 
it, cannot in all cases be determined." Cf. on i., 7. 

6. broil, battle ; the word has degenerated. Cf. Oth.,l.iu. 87. 

7. § 506, "Lines With four accents, where there is an interrup- 
tion in the line, are not uncommon," with this example ; accented syl- 
lable of third foot is omitted on account of the pause, and there is a 
trochee in fourth foot. 

9. choke their art, drown each other by clinging together. 
Macdonwald. Holinshed and the Scottish Chronicles have 
Macdowald. Malone, in Furness, says: " Shakspere might have 
gotten the name from Holinshed's account of the murder of King 
Duff by Donwald." 

10. to that, to that end. § 186, "To means motion, 'with a 
view to,' 'for an end,' etc.," with this example, 

IB. Of, with, as often ; so no need of Hanmer's change to with. 
§ 171, " Of used not merely of the agent, but also of the instrument," 
with this example. 

"Kerns were light-armed troops, having only darts, daggers, or 
knives ; the gallow^glasses had helmet, coat of mail, long sword and 
axe." — C. P. Cf. 2 H. VI., IV. ix. 26. Holinshed uses both terms. 

14, 15. The deceitfulness of Fortune is expressed in these lines; 
but her efforts were too weak, for Macbeth triumphed over her. 



Scene II. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 149 

14. quarrel. •' This is an emendation [for the Folio quarry] first 
adopted in the text by Hanmer, and suggested independently by 
Warburton and Johnson." — C. P. It is an excellent emendation; 
quarry gives no good sense. 

15. 's = was, logically, but this is not used elsewhere by Shak- 
spere. 

18. execution. Cf . on 3 above. 

19. carved, dissyllabic, is better than minion, 
minion, darling; Frh., mignon. Cf. Temp., IV. 1. 98. 

20. § 511, " Single lines with two or three accents are frequently 
interspersed amid the ordinary verses of five accents ; . . . most fre- 
quent at the beginning and end of a speech," with this example. Cf. 
41 and 37, So they, in some eds. 

21. § 265, " Which is used interchangeably with "Who and That." 
Most editors take it as referring to Macbeth, but it may refer to the 
slave; i.e., Macdonwald. Cf. re?yip., I. ii. 352. C. P. says: "There 
is some incurable corruption of the text here." 

22. Slur the before chaps. Compare here Middleton's Witch, V. 
1. (p. 181, ad Jin., Mermaid ed.) : — 

" Draw it, or I'll rip thee down from neck to navel." 

24. As sons of King Malcolm's daughters, Duncan and Macbeth 
were first cousins. 

25. reflection. Cf. on 3 and 18 above. 

These bombastic speeches of the Sergeant do not sound like Shak- 
spere. See Appendix. 

'gins. On "Prefixes dropped" cf. § 460 for a long list of such 
words, although this one is omitted. Cf. Y. v. 49; it is also used 
without apostrophe. 

31. surveying vantage, perceiving the advantage offered him by 
the disorder of the pursuit. 

34. captains; i.e., cap(i)tains, as ent(e)rance, I. v. 40. §§ 477 
and 506 both give this scanning. Cf. 3 H. VL, IV. vii. 30. 

36. sooth, truth, as often. O. E. soth. 

37. C. P. places So they at end of this line, and calls it an Alexan- 
drine, but both cannons and over- may be slurred. See on 20 above, 
and cf . § 511. Some eds. place these words as separate lines. 

cracks, charges. 

38. Cf . Textual Notes here. If So they are placed in this line, we 



150 MACBETH. Act I. 

cannot avoid an Alexandrine with trochee in second foot. Pope 
omitted doubly. Cf. R. II., I. ii. 80. 

40. memorize, make memorable. This allusion is scarcely in 
Shakspere's manner. 

41. See on 20 and 37 above. 

43. So . . . as. § 275 gives this line as example of interchange 
of so and as. 

45. Cf. on 7 above. § 506 gives this line as example of accented 
syllable omitted in second foot. It is better read with unaccented 
syllable omitted in first foot. 

thane, O. E., thegn, servant ; later, nobleman as attendant of the 
King. 

46. Cf . Textual Notes. If a is retained, it must be slurred. § 423, 
Should for ought. Cf. III. iii. 45, and V. v. 31. 

48. camest = cam'st. 

49. flout, mock; historical present, referring to the time when 
Norway attacked. Cf. M. N. D., III. ii. 327. 

51. With terrible numbers, separate line. Cf. 20, 37, 41. "The 
arrangement of the text was suggested by Sidney Walker. It is, 
however, impossible to reduce many lines of this Scene to regularity 
without making unwarrantable changes." — C. P. 

53. If this line comes under § 460, " Prefixes dropped," we must 
read 'gan for began, but most probably Cawdor has a light syllable 
over before the rhythmical pause. 

54. Till that. § 287, ''That as a conjunctional afiix. Just as so 
and as . . . give a relative meaning to words that were originally in- 
terrogative, in the same way that was frequently affixed." It was 
added to other conjunctives also, as when that, while that, etc. 
When that is very common in Chaucer. 

Bellona's bridegroom. Bellona being the goddess of war, Mac- 
beth is represented as her " bridegroom," to exalt his exploits. 
lapp'd in proof, clad in proved armor. 

55. self-comparisons; i.e., Macbeth confronted Norway as his 
equal. 

56. point, sword ; synecdoche. Explain the figure. 

57. spirit may be slurred, or regarded as Cawdor in 53; trochee 
in first foot. 

lavish, excessive. Macbeth restrained Norway's impetuosity. 

58. victory = vict'ry. 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 151 

58. § 283 quotes this line as example of omission of so, as often. 

59. S'weno. " There is near Forres a remarkable monument with 
runic inscriptions, popularly called ' Sweno's stone,' and supposed to 
commemorate the defeat of the Norwegians." — C. P. 

60. the Norways' King. § 433, " Participial Nouns. A parti- 
ciple or adjective, when used as a noun, often receires the inflection 
of the possessive case or the plural." This line is given, hut the 
cases are not exactly parallel. 

composition, arrangements for peace = 

61. Saint Colme's inch, Saint Columha's island, in the Frith of 
Forth, now Inchcolm, with remains of an abbey dedicated to Saint 
Columba. 

62. dollars. "The dollar (thaler) was first coined about 1518, 
in the valley of St. Joachim in Bohemia." — C. P. We need not 
mind the anachronisms of S., which are numerous, for he wrote from 
his own point of view, and would not have cared a baubee if any one 
had suggested to him that Norway did not use " dollars," 

64. Go is suspicious here, as it necessitates an Alexandrine, not 
composed of two trimeter couplets. Capell omitted it, and Pope and 
others omitted present, but editors retain it. 

present^ instant, immediate, as often. 

Scene III. 

2. Killing S"wine. Bewitching swine so as to cause their death 
seems to have been a common occupation of witches. Compare Hec- 
ate's speech in Middleton's Witch, I. ii. (p. 128, Mermaid ed.) : 
"Seven of their young pigs I've bewitched already." See also 
Steevens's quotation in Furness, p. 21. 

6. aroint. Used by S. in K. L., III. iv. 129 : " And, aroint thee 
witch, aroint thee!" and defined by Schmidt in both passages: 
" Stand off, or be gone, a word of aversion." While this word is of 
uncertain etymology, it is desirable to correct some errors that have 
prevailed about it. Dr. Furness (p. 22) quotes Dr. Johnson on 
Heame's print of the "Descent into Hell," who gave the words of 
the demon as " Out, out, arongt," and jumped to the conclusion that 
" the last is evidently the same as aroint." Mr. Rolfe has been sim- 
ilarly misled by Dr. Johnson. A copy of the print is giverf in Hone's 
Ancient Mysteries Described (London, 1823), opposite p. 138, and 



152 MACBETH, Act I. 

Hone has a dissertation on it (pp. 138-147). Hone says (p. 138): 
"The original copper-plate of Christ's Descent into Hell, engraved 
by Michael Burghers, from an ancient drawing, for Hearne the Anti- 
quary, being in existence, I have caused impressions to be taken from 
it, and inserted one opposite. This print is raised into importance 
by Dr. Johnson ['s] taking it as an authority for aroint, a word used 
twice by Shakspeare." Dr. Johnson also mistook the figure of 
Christ for that of St. Patrick; but this blunder was corrected by 
Steevens. Hone shows very conclusively that the word is not arongt, 
but arougt (although he twice misprints arongt for arougt), as 
Hearne also took it, and it is manifest to any one who examines the 
print. This has nothing to do with aroint, so it is hoped that John- 
son's blunder will no longer be perpetuated by Shaksperian editors 
in illustration of aroint. The print is a very interesting one, but it 
is not traced farther back by Hone than Hearne's reprint of For- 
dun's Scotichronicon, 5 vols., 8vo, 1722, where it stands "before p. 
1403 of vol. v.," and, according to Hearne, comes from a calendar pre- 
sented to him by Fleetwood, Bishop of Ely. The print represents 
hell-mouth gaping, and within it Adam, Eve, and eleven others on 
their way out. Christ holds Adam's hand with his right hand, and 
in his left is a long dagger or sword with a cross as the hilt. A demon 
stands by blowing a horn in his right hand, and holding a claw in his 
left: he utters the words, "Out, out, arougt." The title above 
the print reads, Ihs Xrs resurgens a mortuis spoliat infernum 
(Jesus Christ arising from the dead harrows hell) ; so there is no 
question as to the representation. As to the word arougt, it is con- 
nected with route found in Chaucerj Man of Law's Tale, 540, E. E. g 
being a common phonetic insertion, which has caused some blunders 
in modern spelling, as in delight, and such-like words, g=:gh. 
Stratmann (Middle English Dictionary) gives arouten, ? send away. 
O. F. arouter = mettre en route (a = ad, route = (via) rupta) ; so 
the sense here is, " Go on your way, get out," or " leave the assembly." 
Richard the Redeless, iii. 221, has aroutyd, defined by Skeat as "driven 
out of the assembly," and derived from rout, company, assembly. 

As to aroint, it has -never been satisfactorily explained. The 
C. P. editors illustrate it as follows: " * Runt ' is applied in Scotland 
and in Suffolk to an obstinate old cow or ill-conditioned woman, and 
*Ryntthee' is used by milkmaids in Cheshire to a cow, when she 
has been milked, to bid her get out of the way. Ray, in his Col- 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 153 

lection of English Words, gives, *Rynt ye,' By your leave, stand 
handsomely. As 'Rynt you, witch,' quoth Besse Locket to her 
mother. Proverb, Chesh'." Dr. Furness, King Lear, loc. cit. gives 
the following from the Academy of Dec. 28, 1878: "F. D. Mathew, 
editor of Wiclif's English Works for the E. E. T. Society, has 
found two examples of aruiite = avoid, shun, which he regards as 
the same as S. aroint, not heretofore met with elsewhere: ' and here 
shuld men arunte feynt penytaunsers, etc. ; ' ' and here shuld men 
arunte the feend, etc.'" Professor Skeat takes rynt ye as a cor- 
ruption of rime ta from Icel. ryma, to make room; ta=thou in 
the North of England. " Rynt thee " is, perhaps, the earlier form. 
Other ostensible explanations do not seem worthy of consideration. 

rump-fed, " fed or fattened in the rump " (Schmidt) ; hence well- 
fed ; " fed on the best joints, pampered." — C. P. 

ronyon. " A mangy creature." — Schmidt. " Same as Ronion 
[Wb.] = 1. a mangy or scabby animal ; 2. a fat, bulky woman." Frh., 
rognon, from rogne, itch, mange, scab. Cf. M. W., IV. ii. 195. 

7. Tiger. C. P. refers to an account in Hakluyt's Voyages of a 
voyage "by a ship called the Tiger to Tripolis," and thence the 
party went by caravan to Aleppo, in the year 1583. This may have 
been S.'s authority. 

8. sieve. Furness quotes Steevens for references to witches' sail- 
ing in egg-shells, cockle-shells, and sieves, so it was a part of the 
folklore of the day as to their habits. 

10. I'll do, refers to gnawing through the vessel like a rat, and 
causing a leak. — C. P. 

11. Witches were thought to sell winds to sailors, hence Steevens 
calls this free gift of a wind an act of sisterly friendship. 

11. other. § 12, "The Adjectives all, each, both, every, other, 
are sometimes interchanged." other is here a plural- form, M. E., 
othere, as in St. Luke xxiii. 32. 

15. ports. Pope and others would read points. " Orts for ports 
seems still more probable." — C. P. There is no necessity for any 
change. 

blow = blow to or upon, according to most editors ; but Elwin, in 
Furness, says : " All the points they blow from ; " this would require 
points for ports. 

17. card. The card of the compass, on which the usual thirty- 
two points were marked. 



154 MACBETH. Act J 

20. pent-house lid, eyelid ; so called from its sloping shape. 
"Pent-house is a corruption of the Frh. appentis, an appendage to 
ahouse, an outhouse." — C. P. Frh., pente = inclination, slope, from 
Lat., pendere. 

21. forbid, pp. forbidden, under a curse. 

23. peak, grow sharp-featured, thin. " Witches were supposed 
to make waxen figures of those they intended to harm, which they 
stuck through with pins, or melted hefore a slow fire." — C. P. Cf. 
Pi. III., III. iv. 70, and Ham., II. ii. 594. 

See Coleridge's Christabel, 207, for " Peak and pine." 

28. Cf. the Caldron Scene, IV. i. 

32. See Textual Notes. Weird, from O.E. wyrd, fate. Gawin 
Douglas, in the rEneid, translates Parcae, the weird sisters. " The 
weird sisters were not mere mortal witches, hut Goddesses of Des- 
tiny, as Holinshed says." — C. P. While editors have generally 
adopted Theobald's ^veird for weyward, Aveyard of the Folios, see 
Hunter, in Furness, who says: "There is no just pretence for sup- 
planting ' wayward ' and substituting ' weird.' ... S. is by no means 
peculiar in writing ' wayward.' Heywood, in his The Late Witches of 
Lancashire, has, ' You look like one of the Scottish wayward sisters.' " 

weird is dissyllabic. § 485, "Monosyllables containing a vowel 
followed by r are often prolonged," with this reference, Il.i. 20; III. 
iv. 133; and IV. i. 13G. 

33. posters, from posting their way hurriedly over the earth. 
34-36. This refers to dancing around nine times in a circle, nine 

being a magic number, and completing the charm before Macbeth 's 
entrance. 

39. "Forres is near the Moray Firth, about half-way between 
Elgin and Nairn." — C. P. 

41. Scan this line. / 

44. 's is always omitted with each and verba/1 noun. 
laying. Do not call this a participle. 

choppy, full of clefts. — Schmidt. It is spelt by editors indiffer- 
ently choppy or chappy ; cf . chapped hands. 

45. § 323, " Should for ought," as often in Elizabethan writers. 
Cf. I. ii. 46, and V. v. 31. 

46. Witches were known by their beards. Cf. M. W., IV. ii. 202, 
speech of Evans, the Welshman. 

48. Glamis. Furness quotes from Seymour : "This is, in Scot- 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 155 

land, always pronounced as a monosyllable, with the open sound of 
the first vowel, as in alms. The four lines [I. v. 13, I. v. 52, II. ii. 
42, and III. i. 1] appear to exhibit the word as a dissyllable, a mis- 
take somewhat similar to that by which, in Ireland, James and 
Charles are so extended — James and Charles." 

Macbeth was thane of Glamis by inheritance from his father, 
Sinel. " Glamis or Glammis is a village about 25 miles north-east of 
Perth ; near by is Glamis Castle." — Rolfe. 

63. fantastical, imaginary beings, fantasy being always used 
by S. for the imagination. Banquo doubts whether the vision is real 
or imaginary. 

54. ye. Cf. § 236, on confusion between ye and you in S. In 
the older language ye was always nominative and you objective, 
either dative or accusative, but S. does not observe this distinction. 

show, appear ; intransitive, as often. 

56. noble having; i.e., as thane of Cawdor. 

57. § 283, So before that frequently omitted. Cf. on I. ii. 58. 

rapt withal, carried away with it. ^vrapt, F^, shows misapplica- 
tion of w, so frequent in early sixteenth century, as whot, whome ; 
this original blunder remains in whole. 

60, 61. beg your favors nor fear your hate. This transverse 
construction is frequent in S. 
65. How so? 

71. Slnel, Macbeth's father in Holinshed ; but Finele (i.e., Fln- 
leg) in Fordun's Scotichj^onicon. Perhaps there has been a corrup- 
tion of F to S. 

72. While Cawdor is represented as a traitor in I. ii. 52, and his 
death is pronounced in I. ii. 64, Macbeth has not yet heard that, nor 
that his title has been given to him by Duncan, hence there is no 
inconsistency, as some assume. 

76. owe, own, as often in S. O.E., agan; M.E., agen, ogen, 
owen. 

80. of them, partitive use. Cf. W. T., IV. iv. 217. 

81. corporal, corporeal, of bodily form; so incorporal. Ham., 
III. iv. 118. 

84. On. Cf. § 138, on the use of prepositions in S. different from 
the modern use ; § 181, ** On is frequently used where we use of," 
with this example. 

insane root, hemlock, which produces insanity ; a so-called pro- 



156 MACBETH. Act L 

leptic, or anticipatory, use of the adjective. Cf. Ben Jonson's Seja- 
nus (1603) and Greene's Never too Late (1616) for such an attribute 
of hemlock. Henbane and niglitshade produce tlie same effect. Cf. 
Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens. 

92. 93. i.e., whether he should more wonder at your exploits 
than praise you for them. 

93. that = this contention ; antecedent implied in the verb. 

94. In. § 164, " In is used with a verbal to signify ' in the act of 
or 'while.' " 

96. Nothing. §55, "Nothing, like no-"way, naught, not, is 
often used adverbially." 

afeard, old form of afraid, found in F4. 

97. See Textual Notes, hail is more common, but tale, ^= count, 
may be defended. It is rare, but on that account, perhaps, more 
Shaksperian, and not, as Halliwell says, " an obvious blunder." 

Can, Fi, is " an obvious blunder" for came, Rowe. 
104. earnest, pledge; "literally, money given in advance as a 
pledge for the payment of more." "The 'earnest-penny' is still 
given in the North of England on the hiring of servants." — C. P. 
This word has no connection with the adjective earnest, but t is ex- 
crescent, and M.E. ernes, eernes = Welsh, ernes, pledge; Gaelic, 
earlas, earnest-penny; Prov. English, arles = arnes, ernes, an ear- 
nest-penny. 

106. addition, title. This fulfilment of the witch's prediction sur- 
prises Banquo, and excites in Macbeth's mind a probability of the 
fulfilment of the last prediction, as is seen in 117 and 121. 

107. devil. § 466, on " contraction of whether, ever, etc., and 
softening of v in evil, devil = Scotch de'il." It may be contracted 
by slurring i, dev'l. Cf. on I. i. 12. 

109. Who = he who. §251, Who was origiiially interrogative, 
and passed into the relative, the antecedent being omitted. 

111. Whether. § 466. Cf. on 107. This line may be scanned as 
two trimeters, or reduced by slurring he was to h' was (§ 461), and 
whether to whe'r or wheth'r. 

111. 112. This speech of Angus is inconsistent with that of Ross in 
I. ii. 51-52. Both must have known of the disloyalty of Cawdor, 

112. line, strengthen. 

113. that, redundant, serving as repetition of Avhether. 

119. Cawdor should be slurred, Caw^d'r; me and them should 
be strongly accented. 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 157 

120. home, completely. Cf. § 45 on use of hoine as adverb. 
Cor., II. ii. 107, Chjmh., III. v. 83, A. W., V.-iii. 4, and this example. 

123-126. The witches would lead us to destruction by holding out 
the hope of fulfilment of our desires. Banquo does not answer Mac- 
beth directly, but with the tvi quoque argument and a moral aphor- 
ism on the tricks of witches. . 

12G. in deepest consequence, in matters of tlie greatest impor- 
tance. 

127. § 454, ''An extra syllable is frequently added before a pause, 
especially at the end of a line." Cf. IV. iii. 30 and 33, 

The first half of this verse is what Abbott calls the "Amphibious 
Section," one which may be read with preceding and following lines, 
the parts being uttered by different speakers (§ 513) ; but this is very 
doubtful. It is better to take the incomplete lines by themselves. 

129. gentlemen may be slurred gentl'men, or read as triple end- 
ing. § 468, "Any unaccented syllable of a polysyllable . . . may 
sometimes be softened, or almost ignored." 

130. supernatural soliciting, the predictions of the weird sisters, 
two of which had been fulfilled,' hence the third might be. 

132. earnest. See on 104. 

135. The very suggestion makes his hair stand on end, and his 
heart beat violently ; why? Cf. re??ip., I. ii. 213; 2 H. FJ., III. ii. 318. 

138. Why these horrible imaginings ? " The presence of actual 
danger moves one less than the terrible forebodings of the imagina- 
tion." — C. P. This is a common experience.' 

139. fantastical. See on I. iii. 53. § 467, "I in the middle of a 
trisyllable, if unaccented, is frequently dropped." 

whose, in which, the number being already conceived in thought. 
Cf . Maginn, in Furness. 

140-141. So disturbs my mere human nature that it paralyzes ac- 
tion, and I can only surmise what is to come. 

function, " The active exercise of the faculties." — C. P. 

142. rapt. See on I. iii. 57. 

144. Without my stir, without action on my part; let chance 
manage it. Is Macbeth sincere ? 

come, pp. \yhat ellipsis here ? 

144-146. New clothes require time and use to make them comfort- 
able, so Macbeth must become accustomed^ to his new honors. Cf. 
II. iv. 38. 



158 MACBETH. Act I. 

147. "Time and occasion will carry the thing through." — Mrs. 
Montagu, in Furness. " Time and the hour, in the sense of time 
with its successive incidents or in its measured course, forms but one 
idea." — C. P. Cf. III. ii. 37, and E. II., II. i. 258. 

runs. §. 336, "Inflection in s with two singular nouns as sub- 
ject." Cf. C. A. Smith in Publications of the Modern Language 
Association of America, XI. iv. 363 ff. (1896) : " Shakespeare's Pres- 
ent Indicative s-endings with plural subjects : a study in the gram- 
mar of the First Folio." 

149. favour, pardon ; he was preoccupied with his thoughts. 

151-152. I shall remember your attention. What metaphor here? 

153-155. Macbeth would confer with Banquo on what has hap- 
pened, and evidently wishes to involve him in his schemes. 

154. the interim, in the meanwhile. § 202, " Preposition omitted 
in adverbial expressions of time, manner, etc." Cf. IV. iii. 48. No 
personification of interim here. 

Scene IV. 

\ 2. Those intrusted with the execution of Cawdor. 
\ liege, loyal, and so rightful, lawful. O. F., lige. 

8. spolie. § 343, " curtailed forms of past participles which are 
common in Early English," or past tense for past participle, as took 
for talien, wrote for written, common even in the last century. 

8. the leaving it. § 93, "The frequently precedes a verbal 
that is followed by an object," with this example, and many refer- 
ences. See Abbott's discussion of the form. The ellipsis here is of. 
Sometimes the is omitted, sometimes of, and sometimes both. Be- 
ware of calling this a participle ; it is a verbal noun. 

9-11. So composed as to give up his life as if it were a trifle. I 
s€e no reference to studying a part. 

had been studied. Cf. § 295, on use of be and have with in- 
transitive verbs. Dr. Abbott says (p. 207) : " The tendency to invent 
new active verbs increased the number of passive to the diminution 
of neuter verbs," with this example among others. 

10. owed, owned, ais in I. iii. 76. 

11. As 'tw^ere. § 107, "As, like an (102), appears to be (though 
it is not) used by S. for as if. As above (102), the if is implied in 
the subjunctive." 



Scene IV. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 159 

" careless, used in passive sense. § 3, " Adjectives, especially those 
ending in ful, less, ble, and Ive, have both an active and a passive 
meaning," with this example. Cf. "a fearful coward," and "a 
fearful danger." 

14. " Duncan's reflections on the conduct of Cawdor are suddenly- 
interrupted by the entrance of one whose face gave as little indi- 
cation of the construction of his mind, upon whom he had built as 
absolute a trust, and who was about to requite that trust by an act 
of still more signal and more fatal treachery. This is an admirable 
stroke of dramatic art."-^C. P. 

15. What ingratitude ? 

18. thou liad.st = thou' dst. 

19, 20. Macbeth's merits exceed Duncan's ability to reward them. 

22. O^ve, used as now, not as in 10 above. 

23. In doing it. To what does it refer? Cf. on 8. 
pays. Cf. on I. iii. 147 and § 336. 

26. Read as two trimeters, or slur doing and every. 

27. safe has received various interpretations, but the idea is plain ; 
the adjective is used adverbially= "with a sure regard." — C. P. 

28-29. What is the meaning of this metaphor ? 

30. The double negative is very frequent in S. § 406, "Many 
irregularities may be explained by the desire of emphasis, which 
suggests repetition, even where reiDetition, as in the case of a nega- 
tive, neutralizes the original phrase." Cf . C of E., IV. ii. 7, R. III., 
I. iii. 90, and M. of V., III. iv. 11. 

32-33. - Duncan's affection will only increase Banquo's devotion. 

34-35. Tears are an expression of joy as well as of sorrow. Cf. R. 
and J., III. ii. 102-104, and W. T., V. ii. 47-50; also Malone's quotation 
from Lucan, ix. 1038, in Furness. 

35. Accented syllable of third foot omitted ; supplied by pause. 

39. " Cumberland was at that time held by Scotland of the crown 
of England as a fief." — C. P. 

This title was held by the heir-apparent of the throne. 

41-42. What is the meaning of this passage? 

42. Inverness. Envernes in Folios and Holinshed. We'll go to 
Inverness, and be under further obligations to you. 

44. The rest, which is not used for you, is labor. Slur labour. 

45. Harbinger is a corruption of herberger, as in the case of 
messenger and passenger, where n is a euphonic insertion. Skeat 



160 MACBETH. Act I. 

says of harbinger: " The n stands for r, and the older form is M. E. 
herbergeour, one who provided lodgings for a host or army of peo- 
ple." It is found in Chancer, Man of Lawe's Tale, 997, Gower, I. 
204, and Bacon, Apothegms, 54. Herbergeour is formed from O. F. 
herberger, "to harbour, lodge or dwell in a house;" O.F., her- 
berge ; Mod. F., auberge, inn. Brachet gives " O. F., alberge, ear- 
lier still, helberge, and in the eleventh century, herberge in -the 
Chanson de Roland, meaning a military station ; a word of Germanic 
origin, like most war-terms, and from O.H.G., herberga,hereberga.'' 
Mod. G., herberg(e), shelter, inn ; lierberger, one who gives shelter. 
Cf. O.E., here, army, and beorgan, to protect, defend. For meta- 
phorical use of harbinger, cf . V. vi. 10. Harbinger is here a dissyl- 
lable. 

52-53. wink at, fail to see what the hand does, yet let the hand 
act, — a plain indication that Macbeth had already meditated the 
murder. 

55. When you praise Macbeth, you feed me with a banquet of joy. 

Scene V. 

"Lady Macbeth's name was Gruoch [some say Gruach]. It is 
found in a charter granted to the Culdees of Loch Leven by Macbeth 
and his wife. She is there called, 'Gruoch, filia Bodhe.' Bodhe 
was son of Kenneth IV., a former king of Scotland. In the same 
charter (printed for the Bannatyne Club), Macbeth is called 'Mach- 
bet filius Finlach . ' " — C . P. / 

2. by the perfectest report, on the best authority. Is it his 
own experience ? 

4. they made themselves air, they became invisible. / 

5. Whiles. § 137, " While, originally a noun, meaning 'time.' " 
O. E., hwil, gen. hwiles. " So whiles, gen. of Trhile, means ' of, or 
during, the time.' " . . . " While now means only ' during the time 
when,' but in Elizabethan English both w^hile and whiles meant 
also, 'up to the time when.' " In whilst t is excrescent, developed 
from the dental sound of s; cf. amidst, amongst, against« 

rapt. Cf. on I. iii. 57 and 142. 

missives; i.e., messengers in person, Ross and Angus. 

9. the coming on of time, the future. 

10. deliver thee, communicate to thee. 

11. the dues of rejoicing, the opportunity of rejoicing which is 
due thee. 



Scene V. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 161 

15. Double ending before the rhythmical pause and at the end of 
the line. 

16. Usually explained as referring to the natural gentleness of 
Macbeth's nature. Cf. IV. iii. 98, and iT. i., I. iv. 364. But compare 
Moulton's Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist, pp. 149, 150, who ex- 
plains it as "an instinctive tendency to shrink from whatever is 
in any way unnatural ; " and similarly Ransome's Short Studies of 
Shakespeare's Plots, pp. 84-85: kindness = naturalness. 

17. Wouldst. § 329, " Would for will, wish, require. Would, 
like should, could, ought, is frequently used conditionally. Hence, 
' I would be great ' comes to mean, not ' I wished to be great,' but 
'I wished (subjunctive),' i.e., 'I should wish.' " 

19. illness, usually explained as evil, wickedness, though not 
used elsewhere by S. in this sense. Chambers suggests, " discontent, 
nervous irritability." 

21-24. "This passage is variously read and punctuated by edi- 
tors." . . . "With any punctuation the sense is extremely obscure, 
and we are inclined to think that the true reading has been hope- 
lessly corrupted by the copyist or printer." — C. P. 

Editors vary as to how much should be included in the cry, but 
most read as text. No more should be included, for and (22) con- 
nects that which in 21 and 22. The cry is the utterance of the 
crown, notwithstanding it (21) for me. Cf. Deighton, p. 97. 

§ 415, " Construction changed by change of thought." 

24. thee. § 212, "Thee for thou. Verbs followed by thee in- 
stead of thou have been called reflexive. But though * haste thee,' 
and some other phrases with verbs of motion, may be thus explained, 
and verbs were often thus used in E. E., it is probable that ' look 
thee,' 'hark thee,' are to be explained by eiiphonic reasons." . . . 
"The Elizabethans reduced thou to thee. We have gone farther, 
and rejected it altogether." 

26-27. What is the meaning of these two lines? 

28. doth. Cf. on I. iii. 147 and § 336. ' 

§ 467, **I in middle of a trisyllable, if unaccented, is frequently 
dropped." 

metaphysical, supernatural, as usual in S. 

29. withal is here the emphatic form of with. 

30. Why is the messenger " mad to say it " ? 

"Lady Macbeth, thrown off her guard by the suddenness of the 



162 MACBETH. Act L 

announcement, which gives an opportunity for the immediate execu- 
tion of the crime she has been meditating, breaks out into an excla- 
mation of great violence, for which, recovering herself, she wishes to 
account." — C. P. 

32. inform'd, used absolutely. Cf. II. i. 48; R. II., II. i. 242; 
Cor., I. vi. 42. 

preparation. Cf. I. ii. 18, 25, and § 479 on -ion. 

38. entrance, pronounced ent(e)rance. § 477, **R and liquids in 
dissyllables are frequently pronounced as though an extra vowel were 
introduced between them and the preceding consonant." Cf.IIL vi. 
8, R. and J., I. iv. 8, T. N., I. i. 32, and T.. G. of V., I. iii. 84. 

"The croaking of the raven always foreboded ill." Cf. Dave- 
nant's version, V. iii. 23-25. (Furness, p. 329.) 

39. Unaccented syllable of third foot wanting; replaced by the 
pause. Knight refers to "the sublimity of the pause here;" who 
does not feel it " has yet to study S." (Furness, p. 55.) 

40. mortal, deadly, as often. Why " unsex me here " ? 

43. the access = th' access. § 490, " Words in which the accent 
is nearer the end than with us." Cf. W. T., V. i- 87. 

remorse, relenting, kindly feeling, pity before the deed. 

44. compunctious, used by S. only here. 

45. Why keep peace? 

47. ministers may be read as triple ending, or slurred, min'sters. 
Cf. on 27 and § 467. 

48. sightless substances, invisible forms ; passive use of sight- 
less. Cf. careless, I. iv. 11 and § 3. 

49. i.e., lie in wait to do harm. "Are ready to abet any evil done 
throughout the world." — C. P. 

50. Wrap thee in the blackest smoke of hell. Pall is so used only 
here. 

52. What is meant by " the blanket of the dark " ? Is any emen- 
dation necessary? Explain the metaphor. 

54. What is meant by " the all-hail hereafter " ? and why is this 
term used? Cf. Macbeth's letter. 

50. ignorant is used actively, not passively, as some take it. The 
present did not know what was coming ; and Lady Macbeth is trans- 
ported into the future, when her wishes will be realized. Cf. II. i. 51 
and § 484 on monosyllables containing long vowels and diphthongs- 
Slur ignorant and prolong feel. 



Scene VI. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 163 

59. "Was Macbeth honest in this answer? 

60. Cf . § 511 on single lines with two or three accents interspersed 
amid ordinary verses of five accents. See on I. ii. 20 and 41. 

61. Book. Cf. R. and ./., I. iii. 81, where volume is used. 
62-63. To delude others, look like them ; he unconcerned. 

67. What business is referred to, and why should Macbeth put 
it into her hands to despatch? 

69. Make them the sole rulers of Scotland. 

70. Macbeth hesitates, and Lady Macbeth encourages him. 

71. favour, countenance, as often. Change of countenance is 
ever a sign of fear. Cf . K. i., III. i. 43, and on favour, R. II., TV. i. 268. 

Lady Macbeth doubts Macbeth's ability to carry through their 
plan, and shows herself the more courageous of the two. 

Scene VI. 

Stage direction. Hautboy. Frh . , haut bois = highwood, refer- 
ring to its "high tone," according to Skeat; but it may refer to its 
shape, modern Oboe. The calmness and gentleness of the scene as 
it impresses Duncan, contrasts strongly with the hellish plot that is 
being concocted against him. Banquo's speech confirms the impres- 
sion made on Duncan's mind by the delicate air. These two speeches 
serve to heighten the contrast. 

2. nimbly, freshly, briskly ; appeals to our senses with its gentle 
breezes. 

3. Senses ; "i.e., our senses which are soothed by the brisk sweet 
air."— C. P. 

§471, " Plural and possessive cases of nouns in s, ss, ce, ge, se, 
pronounced without additional syllable." 

4. martlet, martin. Cf. M. of V., II. ix. 28. Rowe's emenda- 
tion for barlet, Fj . 

5. mansionrj^, nest. Theobald's emendation for mansonry, 
Fj, not found elsewhere. 

6. Some corruption here; but four accents. See Furness for 
Steevens's division. 

jutty, jetty, projection. 

7. coign of vantage ; coign, corner. Frh., coing, coin; "cor- 
ner convenient for building a nest." — C. P. 

8. What is the meaning of procreant cradle? 



164 MACBETH. Act I, 

11. Slur foll(o)ws for metre ; trovible, double ending. 

13. "Duncan means that it is liis love which causes his hostess 
trouble, and which, as love, demands her thanks." — C. P. 

God 'ield. yield from A. S. infin., gildan, gieldan, geldan — 
pret. geald, guidon — pp. golden; M. E., gelden, yelden = to pay, 
to requite, restore, reward, render (thanks). Cf. Textual Notes. 

14-18. Quadruple service would not equal the honors conferred on 
their house. 

16. single; i.e., " small business." — White, in Furness. Cf. I. 
iii. 140. 

17. §419, " Transposition of adjectives. 1. In legal expressions, 
French influence; 2. relative or conjunctional clause understood be- 
tween noun and adjective; 3. participles and adjectives resembling 
participles liable to transposition; 4. transposition common in case 
of words derived from French." 

19. § 185, To = in addition to. In Elizabethan English without 
verb. Cf. III. i. 52. 

20. Hermits, " beadsmen, bound to pray for their benefactors." — 
C. P. 

22. purveyor = harbinger. Cf . I. iii. 45. 

§492, Words accented nearer beginning than now, with this ex- 
ample. 

23. § 343, Curtailed forms of past participles ; en dropped, and past 
tense used for past participle. 

Holp, from A. S. infin., lielpan, pret. healp, hulpon, pp. holpen ; 
M.E., helpen — halp (help), holpen — holpen; shortened form of 
past participle. 

26. In conipt, in account, subject to be accounted for to you. 

30. § 497. Abbott scans : — 

" And sliall | conti'n | ue our grac | es to | wards him." 

But see C. P. below. Abbott's scanning is better, and may be par- 
alleled by Milton's slurring of continue before a vowel, P- L-, 1, 314. 
C. P. says: " To scan this line we must pronounce ' our ' as a dissyllable 
and ' towards ' as a monosyllable. Instances of each are common." 

Scene VII. 

Stage direction. Server. " Sewer is derived from the French 
essayeur, and meant originally one who tasted of each dish to prove 



Scene VII. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 165 

that there was no poison in it. Afterwards it was applied to the chief 
servant, who directed the placing of the dishes upon the tahle. Pals- 
grave has, ' I sewe at meat. Je taste.' " — C.P. Latter sense the 
one used here. 

1-2. I see no reason to vary from the Fj^ punctuation of these 
lines. First done means more than executed, and implies, " if that 
were the last of it," — very emphatic, as the following lines show. So 
most editors. 

3, trammel, entangle as in a net the result, and so prevent any 
further action. 

4. surcease, from Frh., sursis ; surseoir = supersedere. 

his surcease = its cessation ; his =its, referring to consequence. 
See below. 

success is used in its present sense. " We are inclined to agree 
with Elwin that *his' refers to * consequence,' and that Macheth's 
meaning is, ' If the murder could prevent its consequence, and by the 
arrest of that consequence secure success." — C. P. 

** ' His ' for * its,' referring to the assassination." — C. P. ed., 
Hudson. 

§228, "Its was not used originally in A. V., 1611 [used once. Lev. 
XXV. 5, inserted in 1673]. and rarely in S.; it is common in Florio's 
Montaigne. His was still used as neuter. It was also used for its, 
especially when a child is spoken of, or one spoken of as a child." It 
is so used in S. fourteen times, seven in connection with own. It's 
is used nine times, and its only once, M.for M., I. ii. 4. See Craik's 
English of S., pp. 161 et seq. Cf. Temp., I. ii. 95, and K. L., I. iv. 
206, and Eastwood and Wright's Bible Word-Book, s. v., It. 

It, possessive, is found in Udal's Erasmus, 1548 ; its, in Florio's 
Wo7^ld of Woj^des, 1598. The earliest example of its in S. is in 2 H. 
VI., III. iii. 393. 

6. But here, only here, in this life, as contrasted with the life 
to come. 

shoal. Theobald's emendation for schoole, F^ , who says : " This 
Shallo^v, this narrow Ford of humane Life, opposed to the great 
Abyss of Eternity." (Furness, p. 70.) 

8. §283, "So before that frequently omitted." Macbeth will 
risk the judgment of the future life, if he can get rid of the conse- 
quences in this life, as the following lines show. 

10. the inventor; i.e., the teacher, perpetrator of the crime. 



166 , MACBETH. Act I. 

10-12. Our ill-deeds are punished even in this life. 

13. Kinsman, subject, host, on Macbeth's part, and so -pure a 
ruler on Duncan's part, all cry out with trumpet tongue against the 
murder. Macbeth is fully conscious of his crime before its perpetra- 
tion. 

17. Faculties, royal prerogatives. 

20. takiDg-off. Cf. III. i. 104, and K. L., Y. i. 65. 

21. Pity riding on the wind will proclaim the deed. 

22. clierubin used by S. as singular. Cf. Tempest, I. ii. 152; no 
need of any change here. Cf. Ps. xviii. 10; R. and J., II. ii. 28-31. 
Cherubim is Hebrew plural. 

23. The winds are " the sightless couriers of the air." 
sightless, passive use again. Cf. I. v. 47. 

§3, "Adjectives in -ful, -less, -hie, and -ive are used in both 
active and passive meaning. 

25. § 283. " So before that frequently omitted." 

25-28. What two metaphors have been detected in these lines? 
Ambition is Macbeth's only stimulus to the crime. Cf. Malone, in 
Furness (p. 73). 

20. § 130, " Redundant use of but." Cf. V. viii. 40. 

28. on the other; what is to be supplied? 

§506, "Lines of four accents, where there is an interruption in 
the line, are not uncommon," with this example. 

The pause between the two speeches takes the place of the accented 
syllable of the third foot ; this is frequent in S. 

31-34. Macbeth's reflections have so impressed his mind that he 
is ready to abandon his purpose, and seeks reasons for it in the honors 
received from Duncan, and the reputation he has gained. 

32. bought = gained. 

34. would. § 329, "Would for will, wish, require," used 
conditionally. Cf. on I. v. 16. " We say should in this sense, as 
in IV. iii. 23 and 194." C. P. 

35. § 529 (4), " Two metaphors must not be confused together, 
particularly if the action of the one is inconsistent with the action 
of the other," with this example, which, thinks xVbbott, "is, apart 
from the context, objectionable; for it makes Hope a iierson and a 
dress in the same breath." Can it be justified? 

36. 'dross'd, Hudson, who says: "Every stude^t of S. knows 
that he often uses to address for to make ready or to prepare. 



Scene Vn. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 167 

And lie repeatedly has the shortened form 'dress in the same sense. 
Cf. T. and C, I. iii. From oversight of this, some strange com- 
ments have been made upon the present passage, as if it meant that 
Macbeth had put on hope as a dress," — which it does mean with 
the usual reading. Furness does not notice this reading of Hudson's, 
but quotes Bailey's conjecture, bless'd (!). 

37. green and pale, refers to the dejected appearance of Hope 
on awaking from its debauch. 

39. love. "If this be the case, I account thy love for me (i.e., 
the greatness promised to her in Scene v. 12) only such as this hope, 
a mere drunken fancy." — Eitter, in Furness. 

40. Macbeth desires, bnt is afraid, to act, and Lady Macbeth 
would shame him into action. 

42. tlie ornament of life. Some take this as referring to the 
crown; others, to the "golden opinions" of him (33). Which is 
better? 

45. This " adage " is found in Heywood's Proverbs (1566) : " The 
cate would eate fishe, and would not wet her feete." So in French 
and Latin, both of which have but for and. 

47. beast, in contrast with man, which Macbeth had first used. 

48. Are we informed when this occurred? and what does this 
question show? 

50. §356, "Infinitive indefinitely used. To was originally used 
with the gerund in -e, and, like Latin ad, denoted purpose, to 
lovene, M. E. [to lufiganne, O. E.] == to loving. Gradually to su- 
perseded the infinitive inflection, and was used in other senses, . . . 
for any form of the gerund as well as for the infinitive." 

62. What bearing has this on the previous question ? 

adhere, cohere, agree. 

53. that their fitness, that fitness of theirs. § 239, "This of 
yours is now, as in E.E., generally applied to one out of a class, 
whether the class exist or be imaginary. ... It is, however, com- 
monly used by S. where even the conception of a class is impossible. 
You was too weak to stand in this position, and hence was changed 
to yours." Cf. 0th., V. ii. 4 and K. J., III. i. 299. This construc- 
tion was originally partitive, but was transferred to other uses for 
the sake of emphasis. 

54-59. What does Lady Macbeth mean by this ? and what spirit 
does it show ? 



168 MACBETH. Act I. 

57. his = its ; 58. the = its. Cf. on I. vii. 4 and § 228. In Lev. 
XXV. 5, the Bishops' Bible has the, where A. V. has it in tine origi- 
nal edition of 1611. This was silently changed to its by the printer 
about 1673. 

59. See Textual Notes on the disputed printing of this passage. 
We fail ! suits the idea best. 

CO. But = only. If we punctuate We fail, But is simjjly adver- 
sative. Whatever may be the origin of the metaphor, it is common 
enough now with sticking-point for sticking-place. 

62. the rather, the sooner; the is the instrumental case of O. E. 
demonstrative pronoun thy, the, used to limit the comjiarative. 
With the . . . the and comparative, cf. Latin quo . . . eo. 

63. This reference to the chamberlains is taken froin Holinshed's 
account of the murder of King Duff (a.d. 972) by Donwald and his 
wife. Holinshed says that they eat and drank so much " that their 
heads were no sooner got to the pillow, but asleepe they were so fast, 
that a man might haue remoued the chamber ouer them, sooner 
than to haue awaked them out of their droonken sleepe."' (Furness, 
p. 358.) 

64. wassail, revelling; derived, not from waes hael (C. P.), but 
from O. E. "wes hal, be hale; i.e., your very good health! See the 
story of Vortigern and Bowena, in Sir Frederic Madden's edition of 
Layamon's Brut, II. 173 ff., after Geoffrey of Monmouth. 

convince, overj)ower. •§ viii., p. 12, "Words then used literally 
are now used metaphorically, and vice versa." Cf. TV. iii- 142. 

65. " The memory is posted in the cerebellum like a warder or 
sentinel to warn the reason against attack. When the memory is 
converted by intoxication into a ruere fume, then it fills the brain 
itself, the receipt or receptacle of reason, which thus becomes like an 
alembic or cap of a still." — C. P. Cf. L. L. L., IV. ii. 70, Temp., V. 
i. 67, and Cynib., IV. ii. 301. 

6Q. receipt, receptacle ; only instance of this use in S. 

67. limbec, alembic. " The word is formed from al, the Arabic 
definite article, and [ambik from] the Greek a;u.j8t|, used by Dioscori- 
des in the sense of the cap of a still, into which the fumes rise before 
they pass into the condensing vessel. The ancient form is now super- 
seded. . . . The Italian form is limbico." — C. P. 

68. drenched, steeped in liquor. 

69-72. Rhetorical questions, expecting no answer. 



Scene I. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 169 

71. Spongy, soaked, as a sponge, in liquor. 

72. quell, murder; as a substantive found only here. 0-E., 
CTvellan, kill, is very common. Cf. 3f. iV. B., V. i. 292; so man- 
queUer, murderer. Cf. 2 H. IV., II. i. 58. 

73. mettle, spirit; originally the same as metal, substance. 
" The two are sometimes so near together that it is difficult to dis- 
tinguish between them." — C. P. Macbeth is himself astounded at 
his wife's masculine temperament, and carries her suggestion still 
farther. 

74. received; i.e., as true, believed. Cf. M.for M., I. iii. 16. 

77. other, otherwise. Cf. § 12 on I. iii. 14, and 0th., IV. ii. 13. 

78. as, seeing that. "We should be inclined to take 'other as' 
in the sense of 'otherwise than as,' if we could find an example to 
justify it." — C. P. 

79. settled, resolved. Cf. H. VIII., III. ii. 22. 

80. each corporal agent, each bodily faculty. 

81. mock the time. Cf. on I. v. 61-62. 

Macbeth has at last, under the influence of his wife, screwed his 
courage to the sticking-place, and we await the result. Of course it 
must be concealed, and this riming-tag looks suspicious. 

ACT II. — Scene I. 

3. The moon is regarded as feminine. In O. E. moon was mas- 
culine and sun feminine, as in German. Latin influence changed 
the genders. It was after twelve o'clock, but how long after we can- 
not tell. Cf . II. iii. 22 and R. and J., IV. iv. 3. 

§ 500, " Trimeter couplet. Apparent Alexandrines are often 
couplets of two verses of three accents each." 

4. husbandry, economy of light. 

5. their, referring to heaven, as often. Cf. R. II., I. ii. 7. 
thee, so-called ethical, or idiomatic, dative. Cf . on I. v. 23 and 

§ 212, "Thee for thou," with this example. 

that is variously explained, as sword, belt, dagger, or helmet. 

6. What was the " heavy summons " ? 
8. What were the " cursed thoughts " ? 

By such light touches as these S. very often implies more than is 
expressed. Banquo's state of mind is concisely, but graphically, de- 
picted. See remark of C. P. editors on 7-9. 



170 MACBETH. Act U. 

13. and is a 'weak: ending, one of the two passages in which 
such endings occur in this play ; the other is IV. iii. 122. There are 
also a few light endings. S. seems to have hegun this kind of yersi- 
j&cation just ahout this time, for hoth light and weak endings increase 
rapidly in his plays after Macbeth. 

14. offices, servants' quarters. There is no occasion to change 
this to officers with E.owe and others. The king fees the servants 
who perform menial offices. 

15. diamond, trisyllahic; withal, emphatic form of with. Cf. 
I. iii. 57. 

16. There seems some douht here as to whether shut is preterite 
or past participle with auxiliary omitted. Hanmer read and 's shut 
up. Perhaps this is best, meaning that the king is entirely satisfied 
with his reception. So Chambers and Deighton, " being wrapped up 
in unbounded satisfaction." C. P. eds. say: "There is probably 
some omission here, because, if shut be a participle, the transition is 
strangely abrupt." . . . **Shut up may, however, like concluded, 
be used intransitively." Hudson says: **shut up probably means 
' composed himself to rest.' " 

17. being. § 470, " "Words in which a light vowel is preceded by 
a heavy vowel or diphthong are frequently contracted." Cf. Cor., 
III. i. 94; B. III., II. i. 114. 

18. defect. Cf. Malone, in Fumess, whose explanation seems 
correct. We have not prepared as well as we should have liked to do, 
because we had not sufficient notice of the king's coming. 

Which has will for its antecedent. 

19. free. § 1, "Adjectives freely used as adverbs." 
wrought. § 484, " Monosyllables containing long vowels and 

diphthongs . . . are often so emphasized as to dispense with an unac- 
cented syllable; " this example under ou. 

20. weird. §485, "Monosyllables containing a vowel followed 
by r are often prolonged;" this example under ei. Cf. I. iii. 32; 
III. iv. 133; IV. i. 136. 

23. we'vrould=we'd. 

24. kind'st. § 473, " Est in superlatives is often pronoujiced st 
after dentals and liquids." 

25. If you shall agree with me, when 'tis, when that business is 
discussed. See Fumess for emendations of consent; but editors 
reject them. Hudson says : "Meaning apparently, ' If you will stick 



Scene I. EXPLANATOBY NOTES. 171 

to my side, to what has my consent; if you will tie yourself to my 
fortunes and counsel.' " 

26. sliall. We should now use Trill here. Cf . 29. 

27-28. honour. What double use of the word honour here ? It 
is a paronomasia. 

28. franchised, free from stain. 

29. shall. " We should now use wiU." — C. P. Cf. III. iv. 57. 
S.'s usage of shall and will does not correspond to our modern artifi- 
cial rule, which is a grammar-made rule of late origin, not justified 
by the older language, and yet it has been exalted to a fetish. 

31. drink.. " This night-cup or posset was an habitual indul- 
gence of the time." — Elwin, in Furness, " Night-cup " is not given 
in Webster, but the common "night-cap" is in this sense, and is 
marked " Cant." 

32. strike, subjunctive. § 369, " Subjunctive after verbs of 
command and entreaty is especially common ; naturally, since com- 
mand implies a purpose." 

33. This soliloquy is a fine illustration of the rhetorical figure, 
Vision. The dagger is " a dagger of the mind, a false creation," but 
it assumes a fatal reality to Macbeth 's excited mind. 

36. sensible, capable of being physically laid hold of. Cf. I. v. 
47, I. vii. 23, and § 3. 

37. but, a weak ending, though as adverb = only, it is stronger 
than the adversative conjunction. Cf. II. i. 13. 

41. He draws his own dagger, and contrasts it with the "false 
creation." Cf. on I. ii. 41 and 59, and § 511. 

46. dudgeon, handle of the dagger. C. P. gives examples of 
dudgeon = root of the box-tree, and says: " But the dagger itself is 
also called 'dudgeon,' and the only plausible derivations yet sug- 
gested are (1) the German degen, or sword, or still better (2) dolchen, 
a dagger." Skeat says: " Since the sense clearly has reference to the 
marking on the handle of the dagger, we may confidently reject the 
proposal to connect 'dudgeon' with G. degen, a sword, or with E. 
dagger." 

gouts, drops, or clots. 

47. Cf . Middleton, The Witch, IV. iii. ( p. 179, Mermaid ed.) : 

" By my soul's hopes, I can! There's no such thing." 

48. The conception of the murder causes the sight of the imagi- 
nary dagger. 



172 MACBETH. Act U. 

49. one. § 80, ''Pronunciation of an and one." One probably 
pronounced as spelt, not wun, nor un (Abbott). Cf. pun in T. G. 
of v., II. i. 3, and rime in V. viii. 74-75, one and Scone. 

51. Cf. Milton's Comus, 554, " close-curtain' d sleep." See Text- 
ual Notes. The rhythmical pause supplies the place of the unaccented 
syllable in third foot, or we may prolong sleep. Cf. I. v. 58, II. i. 
19, and § 484. There is no need to insert now. 

51-52. What is the meaning of this sentence? 

Hecate is dissyllabic, as usual in S. Cf. III. ii. 41 and III. v. 1. 

53. alarum'd, alarm'd. Cf. K. L., II. i. 55. Formed from Frh. 
alarme; u is a phonetic insertion, as when harm is pronounced 
harum. 

55. AVhat is the allusion in this line? 

56. Note the personification of murder, moving like a ghost 
towards his design. 

57. my steps. § 414, " The redundant object." 

59-60. Break the prevalent silence, suited to such a deed of 
darkness. 

61. AVords . . .gives. " In this construction there was nothing 
which would offend the ear of S.'s contemporaries. . . . But a gen- 
eral sentiment, a truism indeed, seems feeble on such an occasion. 
Perhaps the line is an interpolation." — C. P. It is impossible to cor- 
rect the rime here. Cf. § 332, "Indicative Present, old forms of 
Third Person plural : Northern in -es, Midland in -en, and Southern 
in -eth : the two former are found in S. : -en is rare and archaic ; it is 
common in Spenser." § 333, "Third Person plural in -s, very com- 
mon in F^. Its frequency shows a fondness for the plural in -s, 
which may have arisen from the Northern plural in -s." But cf . on 
I. iii. 147, and C. A. Smith's article there referred to, especially the 
summary on pp. 375-376, M. L. A. Publications, 1896, xi. 4. 



Scene II. 

Notwithstanding Mr. Grant White's argument for one scene here, 
consisting of Scenes i., ii., iii., a separate scene is essential to give the 
requisite time for the murder after Macbeth's exit. Also, Macbeth 
and Lady Macbeth withdraw at the close of this scene before the 
entrance of the Porter. 



Scene II. EXPLANATORY NOTES, 173 

1, 2. Lady Macbeth has resorted to artificial "fire," in order to 
obtain the necessary boldness. 

3, 4. Cf. 1 H. VI., IV. ii. 15. The shriek of the owl was of ill- 
omen, and it is so regarded still. 

3. fatal bellman. C. P. compares Webster's Duchess of Malfi, 
iv. 2: "I am the common belhnan, etc." He was sent to condemned 
persons just before their execution. 

4. stern'st, most serious because fatal. Cf. II. i. 24, III. iv. 126, 
and § 473. 

5. surfeited, dissyllabic ; second syllable slurred. 

6. posset, "a drink composed of hot milk, curdled by some 
strong infusion, and used to be taken before going to bed." — 
Schmidt. Compare egg-nogg. See Middleton, The Witch, IV. iii. 
(p. 177, Mermaid ed.) : "For the maid-servants and the girls o' the 
house, I spiced them lately with a drowsy posset." Middleton here 
shows an imitation of Macbeth. For the verb, cf . Ham. I. v. 68. 

7. That. Cf. on I. vii. 8, II. ii. 24, and § 283. 

8. Macbeth calls out from nervous excitement, and Lady Mac- 
beth thinks the plot has miscarried. 

[WitMn] was well added by Steevens. 

10. To attempt and not succeed would ruin everything. 

12, 13. Lady Macbeth is not lost to all eomi^unctions of con- 
science. She notices Duncan's likeness to her father. 

16. See Textual Notes. Furness adopts Hunter's arrangement 
of these speeches. Cf. Shelley's The. Cenci, IV. iii. 8, for imitation 
of this passage. 

21. Why a foolish thought ? 

24. address'd them, i^repared themselves again for sleep. § 223, 
Personal pronouns used reflexively in Elizabethan and in Early 
English. 

28. listening their fear. § 199, "Preposition omitted before 
the thing heard after verbs of hearing." Such transitive use is very 
common. Cf. J. C, IV. i. 41. 

29, 30. § 500, Trimeter couplets, with double ending before the 
pause, and at the end of the verse ; slur consid(e)r. 

31, 32. What feeling does this show on Macbeth's part? 
33, 34. Why would thinking on these deeds make them mad ? 
35-40. Editors differ as to how much the voice cries ; but as the 
text seems best, there is no need to add more. 

36. Cf . Middleton, The Witch, IV. iii. (p. 178, Mermaid ed.) : — 



174 MACBETH. Act II. 

" O perjurous ■woman 
Sli' ad took the innocence of sleep upon her 
At my approach, and would not see me come." 

37. sleave. " Soft floss-silk used for weaving." — Schmidt. 
Cf. T. and (7., Y. i. 35, thougli Ff. have here sleyd-silk = " raw, 
untwisted silk" (Schmidt), as in Per., IV., Prol. 21. See Webster, 
s. v., sleave. The passage may be parajihrased : Sleep smooths out 
the entangled cares of the day's occuj)ations : it is a death, a bath, 
a balm, a second course at the feast more important than the first 
course. 

■40. nourisher. Cf . on I. iii. 139 and § 467. 

43. Why should Macbeth " sleep no more " ? 

It is a question whether 42-43 should be given to the voice ; it may 
be Macbeth's comment, as in 36-40. 

46. "brainsickly, madly. The only use of the adverb in S. " The 
adjective is found five times, as in 2 II. VI., V. i. 163." — C. P. 
Lady Macbeth shows herself much bolder than Macbeth, and pos- 
sessed of a clearer head for the emergency. 

51. Macbeth is appalled by what he has done, but Lady Macbeth 
is bold enough to carry back the daggers herself. Cf. II. ii. 1, 2. 

56-57. gild . . . guilt. On this pun cf. 2 H. IV., TV. v. 129, and 
//. v., II., Chorus, 26; and on liairs, Y. viii. 48.^ 

58. Macbeth is so nervous that a mere knocking appals him. On 
this knocking cf . De Quincey, in Furness, p. 437. 

60. The blood-stains so affect Macbeth that the ocean itself can- 
not wash them out, but they will rather dye the ocean red. 

62. incarnadine. See Textual Notes. Many read with F^ in- 
carnardine. Incarnadine, as noun, is found in Sylvester, and 
means "a carnation red." 

63. making the green one red. Cf . Furness for suggestions of 
editors. One qualifies red : the punctuation of F^ one. Red, should 
not be followed. 

64-65. Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth with cowardice. 

68-69. Your constancy has deserted you. 

70. niglit-gown, dressing-wrapper, robe de chambre. 

72. Do not show such a poor spirit. Cf. R. II., III. iii. 128. 

73. What is the meaning of this line? Cf. § 356, Infinitive, in- 
definitely used, and § 357, **To frequently stands at the beginning 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 175 

of a sentence in the above indefinite signification," with this exam- 
ple. Cf. IV. ii. 70. 

'twere best. § 351, "It were best (to). To is often omitted 
after best in it were best, thou wert best, etc." Cf. § 352, "I 
were best (to). This represents the old impersonal idiom, me were 
liefer, him were better. The personal construction is found very- 
early alongside of the impersonal. Sometimes to is inserted. Cf. 
2 H. VI., V. i. 196 and M. of V., II. viii. 33. 

74. Cf. Furness for suggestions of editors on this line. 

Scene III. 

See the Appendix for different views as to the authenticity of the 
Porter part of this scene ; but compare Professor Hales's Notes and 
Essays on Shakespeare (pp. 273-290) for an able defence of it. Cole- 
ridge rejected it, and this gave the cue to others; but Middleton, the 
supposed interpolator of the Witch-scenes, was not equal to this. A 
slight expurgation of the Porter's language has been necessary, 

2. Old is here used intensively, meaning that the "porter of 
hell-gate " should have plenty to do. Cf. M. of V., IV. ii. 16. 

Turning is a verbal noun, and of is omitted. Cf . on I. iv. 8 and 
§93. 

4. Beelzebub = god of flies. 

5. come in time; i.e., you have come in good time. Time is 
hardly a case of address, as Staunton takes it. 

6. enow is used as plural of enough. O.E., genoh, genoge; 
M. E., ynowe, inowe, enoTve, enow. We sometimes find anough, 
the prefix ge- having been weakened to different vowels. 

8. equivocator. This is regarded as referring to the trial of 
the Jesuit, Henry Garnet, in 1606, for complicity in the Gunpowder 
Plot of November, 1605. If this reference is rightly taken, what 
bearing has it on the date of the play? 

14. French hose. This refers simply to the sharpness of the 
tailor in stealing part of the material when inaking a pair of French 
hose (breeches). What is the jpun on the word goose? 

17. devil-porter it, play the part of Porter of hell; it is the cog- 
nate accusative, as in "foot it featly," "queen it," "sinner it and 
saint it," " go it," etc. To what does it refer in these expressions ? 

17, 18. I had thought to have let in. S. does not hesitate to 



176 MACBETH. Act II. 

use a past infinitive after a past tense, which our modem grammati- 
cal purists say is all wrong. 

19. primrose way. Those who would deny this part to S. 
allow him. to retain this line, as it is so poetical. 

24-25. the second cock, about three a.m. Cf . B. and J., lY. iv. 
3. (After line 25, nine lines are omitted.) 

35. timely, betimes. § 1, " Adjectives are freejy used as adverbs." 

39. What is the meaning of th'is line ? 

40. § 281, " Either so or as is omitted in relative constructions." 

41. limited, apiaointed previously by Duncan. 

4G. prophesying. §470, "Words with a light vowel preceded 
by a heavy vowel or diphthong are frequently contracted." Instead 
of being contracted, this may be regarded as a double ending before 
the rhythmical pause. 

48. to, according to, to suit the woful time. Cf. Cor., I. iv. 57. 

the obscure bird, the owl. See Textual Notes. Hudson places 
a comma after time, and takes prophesying as a laarticiple agreeing 
with bird : it is a verbal noun. What did such prodigies portend ? 

51. parallel, cite a parallel to it. 

53-54. The double negative is very frequent in S. 

56-58. Explain the figure in these lines. 

61. Gorgon. The head of Medusa the Gorgon on the shield of 
Perseus turned to stone all who looked upon it. See the Classical 
Dictionary. 

66. death's counterfeit. Cf. if. iV^. D., III. ii. 364. 

68. What is the great doom ? and why is the expression used 
here? 

69. sprites, spirits of the dead. 

70. See Textual Notes on " Ring the bell." It is highly prob- 
able that this is a stage direction. See Theobald, in Furness. The 
rhythm is complete without it. 

71 ff. The affected surprise of Lady Macbeth and the moralizing 
of Macbeth deserve attention. Even Banquo is not equal to the 
occasion. 

82. mortality, life, as often. Cf. K. J., V. vii. 5. 

83. Cf. on II. i. 61 and §§ 333 and 336. 

86. vault. " This world vaulted by the sky." — Elwin, in Fur- 
ness. 

87. amiss. M.E., on misse = in error; properly an adverb, but 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 177 

used also as an adjective in the predicate, misse, borrowed from 
Icel. missa, a loss, hence an error. Not found in O. E. as noun, but 
as prefix, and in missian, to err; Icel., mis-taka, to take in error, 
mistake. 

92. badged, marked, stained. Cf. 3 II. VL, III. ii. 200. 

98. Macduff's question shows a suspicion of Macbeth, and Mac- 
"beth's answer is a poor excuse. 

99. Scan this line. 
101, expedition, haste. 

104, 107. Note the word-play in breach and breech'd. 

103-107. Are these the metaphors of a man overcome with passion ? 
Cf. §529, "Good and bad metaphors" especially (3). "The insin- 
cerity of Macbeth's lamentations is marked by the affectation of his 
language." — C. P. Cf. Johnson, in Furness. 

108. Some regard this swooning of Lady Macbeth as feigned ; 
others, as real. Cf. quotations in Furness. Which is it ? and why 
do you think so ? 

111. argument, subject of their discussion, which most intimately 
concerns us, 

112, 113. Why talk here, where our fate may overtake us before 
we know it ? Malcolm and Donalbain evidently suspected Macbeth 
at once. 

112. here, dissyllabic. § 480, *' Fear, dear, fire, hour, your, four, 
and other monosyllables ending in -r or -re, when preceded by a 
long vowel or diphthong, are frequently i^ronounced as dissyllables," 
with this example. 

114, 115. No time for sorrow now; we must first away. 

116. Hudson quotes Dowden, who considers the swoon real. Hud- 
son thinks " the question is very material in the determining of Lady 
Macbeth's character." He inclines to the reality of the swoon. Cf. 
on 108. 

117. naked frailties, half-clad bodies. What metaphor? "All 
the characters appeared on the scene in night-gowns [i.e., night- 
wrappers], with bare throats and legs." — C.P. 

119. question, inquire into. 

122. pretence, purpose. Banquo, too, suspects Macbeth. 
124. manly readiness, " complete armour, incontrast to the * naked 
frailties ' just mentioned." — C.P. 
128. easy. Cf. on II. iii. 35 and § 1 ; also K. J., IV. iii. 142. 



178 MACBETH. Act II. 

130. the safer. Explain the with comparative. 

131. there's daggers. Cf. on II. iii. 83 and § 335, " Inflection ii? 
-s preceding a plural subject very common in case of * There Is.' " 

near. § 478, " Er final pronounced with a hurr producing the effect 
of an additional syllable. Sometimes the old comparative near is 
used for modern nearer," with this example. Cf. R. II., V. i. 88. 
Tliere is no occasion to print near,' as Hudson. What is the mean- 
ing of near and nearer in the two clauses ? 

132-134. The shaft will light upon them if they stand in the way ; 
better avoid it by leaving at once. 

135-137. Never mind about saying " Good-by ; " there is abundant 
reason for not " standing upon the order of their going." Why so ? 

This flight of Malcolm and Donalbain makes Macbeth's succession 
to the crown sure. 

Scene IV. 

This scene seems introduced merely to inform us of Macbeth's 
coronation, and as a transition to Act III. 

3. sore, " An emphatic word meaning both sad and dreadful." 
— C.P. 

4. trifled, reduced to a trifle his former experiences. Cf . Cymb., 
II. iii. 102. Cf. § 290, " Formation of Transitive Verbs." Elizabethan 
writers used great freedom in turning nouns and adjectives into verbs. 

6. ' his bloody stage, the earth, where bloody deeds are done. 

7. the travelling lamp, the sun, which does not yet shine, al- 
though it is day. Cf. 1 H. IV., I. ii. 226. 

8. the accented. Cf. II. i. 20. Scan the line. 

A spondee in the fifth foot follows a pyrrhic in the fourth, as 
often. "Is night triumphant in tlie deed of darkness that has been 
done, or is day ashamed to look upon it? " — C. P. 

10. unnatural. § 468, "Any unaccented syllable of a polysylla- 
ble may be softened and almost ignored," with this example. ■ 

12. Terms applied to a falcon in hunting birds. Instead of kill- 
ing, the falcon was killed. 

14. horses, monosyllabic in pronunciation. §471, "The plural 
and possessive cases of nouns in which the singular ends in s, se, ss, 
ce, and ge are frequently written, and still more frequently pro- 
nounced, without the additional syllable." Cf. R. II. II. ii. 130, 
purses. See Textual Notes. 



Scene I. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 179 

15. minions, darlings. Frh., mignon. Cf . on I. ii. 19. 

17. as, as if. Cf. on I. iv. 11, II. i. 28, and §-107. Scan this line. 

18. eat; some read ate, which is un-Shakespearian. eat = et, 
was a good preterite then as now. 

24. pretend, intend. Cf. II. iii. 113. 

27. The attempt to put suspicion on Malcolm and Donalbain 
seems to Macduff and Ross too improbable. 

28. ravin up, eat uj) ravenously. Cf. 31. fo?^ M., I. ii. 133. 

29. like, likely, as often. Cf. J. C, I. ii. 175. 

31. fecone, near Perth, was the usual place for the coronation of 
Scottish kings. " The stone seat, on which the ancient kings of Scot- 
land sate at their investiture, origiixiUy, it is said, brought from 
lona, was carried by Edward I. to England [in 1296], and is enclosed 
in the coronation-chair in "Westminster Abbey." — C. P. 

33. Colnie-KiU. lona in the Hebrides, the burialplace of Scot- 
tish kings. " The natives still call their island Icolmkill, ' the cell of 
Saint Columba.' Macbeth himself was, according to tradition, buried 
there also. " — C. P. 

36. Macduff prefers to go home rather than to Scone, for fear 
something may happen to him. He already suspects Macbeth's 
hostility. 

40. benison, blessing, from Frh., benisson; Latin, benedic- 
tionem. Cf. K. L., IV. vi. 229. 

ACT III. — Scene I. 

Banquo's soliloquy shows his suspicion that Macbeth had mur- 
dered Duncan, and so fulfilled the promises of the "weird women." 
This excites in Banquo's mind a hope that the prediction with refer- 
ence to himself will also be fulfilled ; but he must now keep silent and 
await events. 

7. shine, have been gloriously fulfilled. 

Stage Direction, after 10. Sennet, " a technical term for a partic- 
ular set of notes played by trumpets or cornets, and different from a 
flourish. . . . The word does not occur in the text of S., and its 
derivation is doubtful." — C. P. It is variously spelt. 

13. aU-thing, in every way, altogether. Cf. § 55, nothing, and 
§ 68, something, used adverbially. 

14. solemn, formal, ceremonial. 



180 MACBETH. Act III. 

15, 16. Let . . . upon. § 191, Upon, in various meanings, with 
tliis example. Cf. Textual Notes. 

There seems to be a confusion between Let . . . command me, 
and lay . . . command upon me. 

16. the which. What is the antecedent ? Which is originally 
an adjective, and so was made a substantive by prefixing the or add- 
ing that. Both are very common in Chaucer, and we find even the 
which that. This usage of which is a good English idiom, sup- 
ported by Mason and Greene, but condemned by A. S. Hill. 

17,18. "Was Banquo sincere in this speech ? 

21. still, always, as often in S. and other writers. 

22. Was Macbeth sincere in this speech ? 

25. go not. §364, " Subjunctive used op tatively or imperatively." 
Here it is used conditionally. 

the better; i.e., better than usual. §91, "The (O.E., thy, the) 
used as instrumental of demonstrative and relative with comparatives 
to signify measures of excess or defect ; the sooner, the better, quo 
citius, eo melius." Cf. II. iv. 130 and IV. iii. 184. 

27. twain. O. E., twegen, twa, twa; M. E., twey(e)n, tw^ain. 

31. parricide. In K. L., II. i. 48, it means the murderer. 

32. invention, made-up tales, perhaps accusing Macbeth. 

33. cause of state, public business. 

39. Farewell. Cf. § 512, *' Inter jectional lines placed out of the 
regular verse." 

42. welcome. Is this a noun or an adjective? Explain each 
way. 

43. Avliile, until. § 137, " While = ' up to the time when,' in 
Elizabethan English ; so whiles." 

God be Tvith you, God b' wi' you = Good-by. § 461, " Contrac- 
tions," wi' for w^ith, with this reference. Cf. Trautmann in Anglia, 
VIII., Anzeiger, p. 144, where God be by you is suggested as the 
original of Good-by ; but we need examples of the full phrase in 
this sense. See Walker, in Furness. 

47 ff. Macbeth is apprehensive of Banquo, and of the fulfilment 
of the sisters' prediction. 

He cannot feel safe until Banquo is out of the way, hence he will 
challenge fate to do her worst. 

48. But. § 385, " After but, the finite verb is to be supplied 
without the negative." " Mr. Staunton, however, puts only a comma 



Scene I. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 181 

after ' nothing,' and interprets, ' To be a king is notliing, unless to be 
safely one.' " — C. P. 

50. -H'ould, where we use should. Cf. on I. v. 19, I. vii. 34, and 
§ 329. 

53. There is none but he. § 118, "But, O.E. butan = bi 
(be)-utan, by out, hence excepted or excepting." In O.E. it 
means witliout, and is a prei)osition. Is he correct after but? 

55. Cf. A. and C., II. iii. 19-22, a passage borrowed from North's 
Plutarch, " Antonius," p. 936, ed. 1631. — C. P. Macbeth is oppressed 
by the presence of Ban quo, and so would be rid of him. 

56. chid. This preterite is from root of old preterite plural and 
past participle. O.E., cidan, — cad, cidon, — ciden; M.E., chi- 
de(n), — ch6d(e), chiden, — chiden. Cf . Jacob . . . chode with 
Laban, Gen. xxxi. 36. 

60, 61. Why fruitless crown and barren sceptre? 

62. with. § 193, *' With often used to express juxtaposition of 
cause and effect ; " here, of agent = by. 

unlineal, not in direct line of descent. 

63. "According to tradition, a son of Macbeth was slain with 
him in his last encounter with Malcolm." — French, in Furness. 

64. filed, defiled. "This form is not elsewhere used by S. Cf. 
Spenser, Fairy Queen, III. i. 62." — C. P. 

67. What is meant by mine eternal jewel ? 

69. seed, collective, hence referred to by them. 

70. list, more frequently lists : phraseology of the tournament, 
where lists = barriers. 

71. to the utterance. Frh., a I'outrance, to the uttermost. 
champion. " This seems to be the only known passage in which 

the verb is used in this sense." — C. P. "The sense is: Let fate, 
that has foredoomed the exaltation of the sons of Banquo, enter the 
lists against me with the utmost animosity in defence of its own de- 
crees, which I will endeavour to invalidate, whatever be the danger." 
— Johnson, in Furness. 

73. Cf. § 244, " Omission of Relative," with this example. 

76. Note pyrrhic in third foot and spondee in fourth. 

79. passed in probation with you, proved to you. Macbeth 
lays on Banquo the injury done to the two men, to excite their anger. 
Scan this line. Cf. II. iv. 10 and § 468. 

80. borne in hand, put off by mere promises. Cf. ^am., II. ii. 67. 



182 MACBETH. Act III. 

instruments. Cf . on 79. 

82. What is the meaning of this line? 

87. gospell'd, imbued with the spirit of the gospel. Are you so 
patient and of such a Christian character as to overlook the injuries 
Banquo has done you? Cf. Matt. v. 44. 

91. catalogue, of human beings, as in the following list all are 
dogs. 

93. shouglis, with shaggy hair ; Avater-rugs, rough water-dogs ; 
denii-wolves, half-wolves. 

clept, or y-clept, named or called. O.E., cleopian, cleopode, 
gecleopod; M.E., clepen, clepede, y-cleped. The word "is still 
used by children in the Eastern counties; they speak of 'cleping 
sides; ' i.e., called sides at prisoner's base, etc." — C. P. 

94. the valued file, " The file or catalogue to which values are 
attached," — Schmidt. It is the select list where each dog is rated 
according to his value. 

99, the bill, the general list that makes no distinction. 

101, the file, the select list, " The muster-roll, as in A. W., IV. 
iii. 189." — C. P, 
.102, in should be accented, not abbreviated to i'. 

worst. § 485, "Monosyllables containing a vowel followed by r 
are often prolonged," with this example, 

104. whose, referring to business, as often. Our modem gram- 
matical purists would rule out this usage. 

106, 107. in. § 162, "In metaphorically used for 'in the case of,' 
'about.'" Cf. III. i. 48. 

106. "VVe are sickly while tie lives, in perfect health if he were 
dead. 

109. what. What is the construction of what ? 

Ill, Cf, on 62 and § 193. 

115, bloody distance, enmity that requires shedding of blood, 
" The word is not again used by the poet in this sense," — C. P, 

117, my near'st of life, my most vital parts. Cf, V, ii. 11 and 
R. II., Y, i, 80. — C, P, Every moment that he lives is perilous to 
me. 

119, avouch it, acknowledge it and be responsible for it, 

120, for, on account of. Cf, § 150, with this example, 

121, may. § 310, "May with a Negative " = must, with this 
example. 



Scene II. EXPLANATOBT NOTES. 183 

but. § 385, "After but the finite verb is to be supplied without 
the negative." Cf. on 47, 48 above. 

122. who, for whom. § 274, Inflection neglected with this exam- 
ple. Antecedent contained in his, as often; § 218, **His, her, etc., 
may stand as the antecedent of a relative." Cf. /. C., I. i. 55, 

129. the perfect spy o' the time; i.e., the precise time to act. 
Spy = espial or discovery. See Heath, in Furness. Spy can hardly 
be taken as referring to the Third Murderer, as Johnson takes it. 

131. something, used adverbially. § 68. Cf. on 13. 

thought, used absolutely, without a noun or pronoun. § 378, " Par- 
ticiple without Noun, rare in earlier English." 

133. rubs nor botches, hindrances nor blunders. 

137. resolve yourselves apart, determine privately. 

138. §500. Trimeter couplet; frequent in dialogue. Cf. Shelley's 
The Cenci, IV. ii. 36, for imitation of this passage. 

139. straight, straightway. Cf. M. of V., II. ix. 1. 

By means of these arrangements for the murder of Banquo and 
Fleance, Macbeth will outwit Fate, and falsify the prediction of the 
weird sisters. 

Scene II. 

3. attend, await. Cf. III. i. 45. 

4-7. Strutt and Hunter, quoted in Furness, think that these lines 
should be given to Macbeth as he enters in soliloquy, being more in 
keeping with his frame of mind ; but they disclose Lady Macbeth's 
state of mind also. She is queen, yet is not satisfied. 

5. content, satisfaction. 

9. sorriest, saddest. Cf. II. ii. 20. 

10. Using, brooding on. t 

11. "What is the construction of on? 

all = any. Cf . § 12, Use of all, each, etc. 

Perhaps vdthout = beyond. Cf. M. W. D., IV. i. 150 and § 197. 

13. What is the metaphor in this line ? 

14. i.e., the parts scotch'd will reunite. 
For she cf. M. iY. D., II. i. 255. 

15. her former tooth, the tooth she had before. 

16. frame of things, the universe. Cf. 2 H. IV., III. i. 16 and 
Ham., II. ii. 310. There* appears to be some corruption here, as the 
line is unmetrical ; perhaps we should omit " of things." 

both the worlds; i.e., the celestial and the terrestrial. 



184 MACBETH. Act ra. 

18. terrible dreams. Conscience will not let Macbeth rest, but 
he sees visions of the night. 

20. place. See Textual Notes. There is much discussion as to 
whether we should read place or peace here ; which is better ? 

22. ecstasy. "In the usage of S. it stands for every species of 
alienation of mind, whether temporary or permanent, proceeding 
from joy, sorrow, wonder, or any other exciting cause." — Nares, in 
Furness. Cf. IV. iii. 170, ecstasy = ecst'sy, metrically, double end- 
ing before the pause. 

23. fitful, "intermittent" (C.P.); "full of paroxysms" 
(Schmidt). 

24. his, its. Cf . § 228. 

26-32. Hudson divides these lines at lord, jovial, love, remem- 
brance, both, and we, after Capell and others, 

27. sleek, smooth. 

28. among = 'mong. §460, " Prefixes dropped." 

30. rememb(e)rance. §477, "R and liquids in dissyllables fre- 
quently pronounced with extra vowel." Cf. I. v. 37 and T. JV., I. 
i. 32. 

31. em(i)nence, treat him with distinction. 

32. that, in that. § 284, with this example. 

33. Explain the figure in this line. 

34. visards, masks. 

37. lives. Cf. on I. iii. 147 and § 336. 

38. copy. Some take this as ^ copyhold tenure, terminable at 
will of the lord; others, as Knight, the individual formed in the 
image of nature, merely-human personality. I doubt if S meant to 
use a legal metaphor here ; it is too far-fetched. 

41. cloister'd flight, flight in the vicinity of cloisters. " We 
have cloister as a verb in R. II., V. i. 23." — C P. 

Why is Hecate called black ? See Classical Dictionary. 

42. shard-borne^ shard =" the hard, smooth wing-case of the 
beetle. Cf. JL. a?id C, III. ii. 20." — C. P. 

43. yawning peal, noise of the beetles' wings lulling to slumber. 

44. a deed of dreadful note, a notable and dreadful deed. This 
is apparently the first intimation given to Lady Macbeth of the 
approaching murder. 

46. seeling. "To seel is to close up the eyelids partially or 
entirely by passing a fine thread through them. This was done to 



Scene UI. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 185 

hawks until they hecame tractable. Hence metaphorically to close 
the eyes in any way." — Nares, in Furness. 

47. scarf up, blindfold with a scarf. 

48. Explain the metaphor in this line. 

49. bond; i.e., Banquo's bond of life. "Macbeth keeps up the 
same legal metaphor which his wife had used in line 38. Cf . R. III., 
IV. iv. 77." — C.P. 

50. light thickens, the dusk of evening comes apace. Cf. A. and 
C, II. iii. 27. 

51. rooky, misty, gloomy. "'Roke' is still found in various 
provincial dialects for mist, steam, fog. Others interpret rooky 
wood as the wood frequented by rooks." — C.P. Abbott refers to 
§ 506 on " Lines with four accents," but this has only three, 

52. drowse, grow drowsy. Cf. 1 H. IV., III. ii. 81. 

53. whiles. See on I. v. 5, and cf. II. i. 60 and § 137. 

54-55. These riming-tags are thought by some to be interpolated. 
It may well be, especially when, as here, they are doubled. 



Scene III. 

1. Some have supposed that the Third Murderer was Macbeth 
himself, but there do not seem to be good grounds for this. See A. P. 
Paton, in Furness, from Notes and Queries, Sept. 11 and Nov. 13, 
1869. 

2. needs, we need not mistrust him. Cf. §308 on "May ex- 
pressing possibility," with this example. 

3. offices, duties. 

4. to the direction just, according to our directions. Cf . § 187. 
6. lated, belated. Cf. A. and C, HI. xi. 3. 

8. Who is " the subject of our watch " ? 

10. note of expectation, list of guests expected at the banquet. 
Cf. W. T., IV. iii. 49. 

14. Fleance carries the torch, so there is no need of a servant, as 
some assume. 

14-16. Explain it in these lines. 

19. Apparently the First Murderer strikes out the light, for he 
replies to the Third Murderer ; but if the latter was Macbeth, he may 
have done it himself to avoid detection. 



186 MACBETH. Act m. 



Scene IY. 

2. Scan this line, and compare II. iv. 10 and § 468, maj'sty. 

5. state. "The state was originally the 'canopy;' then the 
chair with the canopy over it." — C. P. Cf. T. N., II. v. 50 and 
1 H. IV., II. iv. 415. 

6. require, ask, not so strong as now ; her welcome, welcome 
from her. 

14. thee without than he Trithin; " that is, it is better outside 
thee than inside him. In spite of the defective grammar, this must 
he the meaning, or there would be no point in the antithesis." — C. P. 
Cf. Cymh., II. iii. 153 and § 207, "He for him," with this example. 
See Furness for view of Johnson: "It is better that Banquo's blood 
were on thy face than he in this room;" but this does not seem so 
good. 

19. nonpareil, unequalled one. Cf. T. N., I. v. 273 and Temp., 
III. ii. 108. 

22. founded, firm, fixed. 

23. casing, encircling. 

24. cabin'd, found again in T. A., IV. ii. 179. 

cribb'd. "It does not we believe occur elsewhere." — C. P. 
This shows Macbeth's perturbation at the escape of Fleance, and 
his failure to falsify the prediction of the weird sisters. 

25. saucy, impudent, that thrust themselves in when not wanted. 
Cf. 0th., I. i. 129. 

29-31. What is the meaning of this passage ? 

32. w^e'll hear ourselves again, " we will talk with one another 
again." — C. P. In Globe ed. they read, "We'll hear, ourselves, 
again," with Dyce; but in C. P. ed. they think the expression awk- 
ward. Douce regarded " ourselves again " as " an ablative absolute." 

33. sold, not given cheerfully. "If during the feast the host 
does not frequently assure his guests that he gives it gladly, it is like 
a feast for which payment is expected." — C. P. 

34. a-making, in making. A (O. E., on, an, with n dropped) 
is a regular preposition used with the verbal noun, making, as its 
object. It is necessary to insist upon this from the prevalent errors 
about it. The C. P. editors say on a: " For its participial (!) use, 
see R. II., II. i. 90, a-dying, and 2 H. IV., II. iv. 301, a-weeping;" 
and even Dr. Abbott says (§ 24) : " (2) Before adjectives and parti- 



Scene IV. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 187 

ciples (!), used as nouns," although in the next sentence he adds: 
''It is easy also to understand a- before verbal nouns, and before 
adjectives used as nouns, where it represents on : a-killing, Otli., 
IV. i. 188." These forms in -ing are not participles, and never were. 
They have an entirely different origin, and have been verbal nouns 
from the beginning. Hence they are used with the preposition a, 
just as any other noun would be. Under § 140 Dr. Abbott quotes the 
reading of Tyndale and Cranmer: "Forty and six years was this 
temple a building" {St. John ii. 20), which shows plainly the con- 
struction. It has, however, been sometimes confounded with the 
participle, and hence the mistakes. If it is remembered that a par- 
ticiple is always aii adjective in construction, and that a is a j)reposi- 
tion, mistakes will be avoided. 

35. to feed were best at home, it would be best to eat at home. 

36. from thence, away from home. Scan this line. 

37. remembrancer. Lady Macbeth, who reminds him of his 
duty. Cf. § 494, on "Apparent Alexandrines." 

39. sit. Cf. H. VIIL, I. iv. 19 and § 349, "Infinitive. To 
omitted and inserted." See 45, where to is inserted. 

40. had, should have. "We should now have all that is most 
honorable in our country gathered under one roof, were Banquo 
here." — C. P. 

42. who. Cf. III. i. 122, L. L. L., II. i. 2, and § 274, "who for 
Avhom." 

44. Please 't, may it please; it is used indefinitely, representing 
to grace, etc. Cf. T. and C, II. iii. 270. 

49. Here Macbeth first recognizes the Ghost of Banquo. It is a 
question among critics as to whether the Ghost should visibly appear, 
or be visible in imagination to Macbeth alone. See Furness for the 
different views. Hudson's view seems well taken: " The ghost is a 
thing existing only in the diseased imagination of Macbeth, a sub- 
J3ctive ghost, and no more objective than the air-drawn dagger. . . . 
All this is evident in that the ghost is seen by none of the guests." 
He thinks that its representation on the stage should be discon- 
tinued. " The ghost, invisible of course to the other persons on the 
stage, had entered and taken his seat during Macbeth's speech, 40- 
43." — C. P. 

54 ff. Lady Macbeth apologizes for Macbeth's agitation, and tries 
to smooth it over. 



188 MACBETH. Act III. 

57. shall, will would now be used, as in 56. Cf. § 315. 

58. Scan this line. Cf. § 453, "The accent after a pause is fre- 
quently on the first syllable," with this example. 

60. proper stuff, mere nonsense. 

63. flaws, mental commotions. We still speak of " gusts " of 
passion. Cf. Ham., V. i. 239 and 2 H VI., III. i. 354. 

64. to, in comparison with. Cf . § 187 on *' To," with this ex- 
ample. 

66. authorized, an old wife's (woman's) tale, told by her grand- 
mother. For accent, cf. Sonnets, XXXV. 6. 

68. Lady Macbeth sees only a stool, and tries to convince Mac- 
beth that he sees nothing more ; but he knows better. The Ghost is 
very real to him. 

72, 73. " We will leave the dead to be eaten by birds of prey." — 
C. P. The stomachs of kites shall be our tombs. 

76. human statute, statute enacted by civilized man. humane 
of the Folios = human. See Textual Notes. 

"gentle is here to be taken proleptically." — C. P. Warburton, 
in Furness, says: " I have reformed the text, 'gen'ral weal;" and 
it is a very fine periphrasis to signify: ere civil societies were insti- 
tuted." Theobald and Capell adopted this reading, and Walker 
made the same conjecture. 

78. See Textual Notes. 

81. mortal murders, deadly wounds ; but Hudson reads gashes, 
after Lettsom and others. Cf. IV. iii. 3. 

85. muse, gaze with astonishment. 

89. Scan this line. 

90. This line gives occasion for the reappearance of the Ghost of 
Banquo. 

91. thirst, quench our thirst, drink the health. 

92. all to all, each one drink to all the others. 

93. Again Macbeth sees the Ghost in vision. "There can be no 
reason for supposing that the Ghost is that of Duncan, as some have 
supposed, contrary to stage tradition, the testimony of Simon Forman, 
and the natural sense of the context." — C. P. 

95. speculation = " the intelligence of which the eye is the 
medium, and which is perceived in the eye of a living man." — C. P. 
It means intelligent comprehension of what thou lookest upon. 



Scene IV. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 189 

9G-97. Another effort of Lady Macbeth 's to smooth over Mac- 
beth's agitation. 

99. Cf. I. vii. 46: "I dare do all that may become a man." 

101. arm'd, "cased in the armour of an impenetrable hide." — 
C.P. 

Hyrcan, from Hyrcania, south of the Caspian Sea. 

104. Macbeth will fight anything mortal, but he is powerless 
against the supernatural. 

105-106. See Textual Notes. Various other readings have been 
suggested, but it is best to stick to the text of F| . Much has been 
written in explanations of the text. The idea seems to be: "If, 
under these circumstances, I show fear, proclaim me a baby, and 
even the baby of a feeble girl," not a doll baby, as has been suggested. 
It is immaterial whether we put a comma after then with Fjl , or be- 
fore it with F.2. For inhabit, cf. Sidney's Apologie for Poetrle 
(Arber's reprint, p. 35) : "The estate of Dives, etc., and of Lazarus, 
etc., . . . would more constantly . . . inhabit both the memory and 
judgment." "It is possible after all that the reading of the First 
Folio may be right, and ' inhabit ' be used in the sense of ' keep at 
home,' 'abide under a roof,' as contrasted with wandering in a 
desert." — C.P. See Furness for the various readings. 

108. The disappearance of the Ghost restores Macbeth's com- 
posure, but it is too late to restore the mirth. 

109. broke, broken. §343, "Formation of Participles. Eliza- 
bethan authors frequently used curtailed forms of past participles, 
which are common in Early English ; " also past tense for past par- 
ticiple, as took for taken, which is equally as common. 

110. admired, admirable. Cf. M. N. D.j V. i. 27 and §375; per- 
haps used ironically here. 

111. overcome, come over. 

112. You cause me to doubt my identity when you can be so calm, 
while I am frightened. 

113. owe, possess, as often. Cf. I. iii. 7G, I. iv. 10, and Temp., III. 
i. 45. 

116. mine, my cheek. There is no need to change cheeks to 
cheek ; we have many worse grammatical irregularities in S. than 
this: "the ruby of my cheeks." — C. P. 

118, 119. Lady Macbeth is evidently anxious to get rid of the com- 
pany without regard to precedence in retiring. 



190 MACBETH. Act IIL 

124. augurs, auguries. " In Florio's Italian Dictionary, 1611, the 
word augure is given as the equivalent both for augurio, sootli- 
saying, and auguro, a soothsayer. In the edition of 1598 augure is 
only given as the translation of augurio, and it is in this sense that 
it is used here. The vrord occurs nowhere else in S." — C. P. 

understood relations, vrell-ascertaiued relations between signs 
and things signified. 

125. maggot-pies, magi^ies; ehouglis, jackdaws. CL Temp. ,11. 
i. 266. 

125-126. Auguries have by these means detected the murderer. 

127. at odds, contesting; i.e., it was near daybreak. 

128. Macbeth suspects Macduff because he did not come to the 
banquet. 

131. There's not a one. There is no need to change this expres- 
sion. Theobald's thane and Grant White's man are unnecessary; 
so also is Pope's and Hudson's, There is not one, although that is 
smoother. S. can, however, use colloquialisms. 

133. This line is scanned in §485, "Monosyllables containing a 
vowel followed by r are often prolonged," as Aveird, and referred to 
with a " perhaps " under § 478, "Er final pronounced with a kind of 
' burr,' " as sisters. Cf. T. JST., Y. i. 393. Scan the line. Pope omitted 
and, and read unto for to, which sounds better, "betimes may be 
slurred b'times, and if we read unto for to, it will give a very good 
rhythm. 

136-137. in. Cf. §407 for "Double Preposition," and Cor., II. i. 
18. 

133. were, subjunctive = would be ; to omitted. Cf. § 384. 

139. wHl. For ellipses after will and is, cf. § 405. 

140. scann'd, examined into critically. 

142. 3Iy strange and self-abuse, my strange self-deception. Cf. 
II. i. 50. 
143-144. He became frightened because he was new to crime. 

Scene V. 

There is much question as to the genuineness of this scene. Cham- 
bers brackets it, as he does the Hecate speech in TV. i. 39-43. Both 
may be due to Middleton. See Appendix. Note the prevalent iam- 
bic measure of the scene. 



Seen© V. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 191 

1. Hecate, dissyllabic, as in II. i. 52, III. ii. 41, and 3f. iV. B., 
V. ii. 391 ; trisyllabic iu 1 II. VI., III. ii. 64. " Ben Jonson and Mil- 
ton use the word as a dissyllable." — C. P. Hecate is Proserpina in 
bell, Diana on earth, Luna and Cynthia in heaven. In the Middle 
Ages she was the Queen of Witches. Cf . Scot's Discover]/ of Witch- 
craft, Book III., Chapter 16. 

angerly, angrily. Cf. T. G. of V., K. J., IV. i. 82, and § 447. 

4, 5. These lines refer back to i. 3. 

8. If S. had needed her, he would have called her before. This 
looks like an insertion to explain her previous absence. 

10. whicli for "which thing," often parenthetically. Cf. §271 
and references, especially C. of E., I. i. 53. 

13. This does not sound like S. Macbeth would stultify himself 
with any other object in view than " his own ends." Cf. Middleton, 
The Witch, I. ii. (p. 133, Mermaid ed.) : — 

" I know lie loves me not, nor there's no hope on't." 

15. Acheron, a river of Hades; here, some neighboring pit. 

17. This reads like a prediction after the fact, and furnishes still 
further ground for regarding the scene as an interpolation. 

21. Cf. § 498 for this example; perhaps Unto for to. Pope 
dropped and a, and inserted a comma. 

24. vapourous drop profound. Perhaps Johnson was right in 
regarding the vapourous drop as possessed of ** profound, deep, or 
hidden qualities," virtues useful to witches in their magic arts. 

29-33. Another prediction after the fact, closing with the plati- 
tude in 32, 33. The words of the Song follow, taken from Middleton, 
The Witch, III. iii. (pp. 166-167, Mermaid ed.): — 



SONG. 

" Voice [^6owe]. Come away,* come away, 
Hecate, Hecate, come away ! 

Hecate. I come, I come, I come, I come, 
"With all the speed I may, 
With all the speed I may. 
Where's Stadlin? 

Voice [Above], Here. 

Hecate. Where's Puckle? 



192 MACBETH. Act III. 



VorcK [Ahovel. Here. 

And Hoppo too, and Hell wain too; 

We lack but you, we lack but you : 

Come away, make up tlie count. 
Hecate. I will but 'noint, and tlien I mount. 

[yi Spirit like a cat descends. 
Voice [Above]. There's one comes down to fetcli liis dues, 

A kiss, a coll ^ a sip of blood ; 

And why tliou stay'st so long, 

1 muse, I muse, 

Since the air's so sweet and good. 
Hecate. O, art thou come ! 

What news, what news ? 
Spirit. All goes still to our delight : 
• Either come, or else 

Refuse, refuse. 
Hecate. Now I'm furnish'd for the flight. 

Fire. Hark, hark ! the cat sings a brave treble in her own language ! 

Hecate [Going up]. Now I go, now I fly, 

Malkin my sweet spirit and I. 

O, Avhat a dainty pleasure 'tis 

To ride in the air 

AVhen the moon shines fair. 

And sing and dance, and toy and kiss ! 

Over woods, high rocks, and mountains. 

Over seas, our mistress' fountains. 

Over steeples,^ towers, and turrets. 

We fly by night, 'mongst troops of spirits: 

No ring of bells to our ear^ sounds. 

No howls of wolves, no yelps of hounds ; 

No, not the noise of water's breach. 

Or cannon's throat, our height can reach. 
Voices [Above]. No ring of bells, etc." 

34-35. I cannot see the force of the C. P. editors' remark : " From 
what Hecate says, 'Hark, I am called,' it is probable that she took 
no part in the song, which perhaps consisted only of the two first 
lines of the following j)assage from Middleton ; " that is, the song just 
given. Hecate had finished her song, and then made this remark, 
which is more like Middleton than S. The scene serves no useful 
purpose. 

1 embrace. 2 steep, Middleton ; steeples, Davenant ; so Middleton in 
Mermaid ed. 3 ears, Hudson, C. P. 



Scene VI. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 193 

Macbeth had already announced his visit to the "weird sisters" 
in III. iv. 133, and no further intimation of it was needed. See 
Appendix. 

Scene VI. 

1. Have suited your thoughts, have hit just what you were 
thinking about. 

3, 4. The irony of Lennox's speech emphasizes Macbeth's guilt. 
marry, a corruption of Mary; crasis of marry, he. Cf. § 463, R 
destroys following vowel. 

6. If Malcolm and Donalbain killed Duncan, as Macbeth would 
have us believe, why, Fleance killed Ban quo, for he too lied. It 
merely shows that " men must not walk too late." 

8. "who cannot want [i.e., lack] the thought = " who can help 
thinking." — C. P. There is confusion of thought here, as elsewhere 
in S. Cf. K. L., II. iv. 140. Want = do without; still so used in 
Scotland, it seems. " The passage as it stands is perfectly good sense, 
and perfectly good English of S.'s day, as it still remains perfectly 
good Northern English, or Lowland Scotch of 'our day." — Edin. Rev., 
July, 1869, in Furness. 

monstrous = monsterous. Cf. on I. v. 37, entrance, and § 477, 
**R and liquids in dissyllables frequently pronounced as though an 
extra vowel were introduced." 

10. fact, deed ; i.e., evil deed, often so used in S. 

11-13. Bitter irony. Macbeth avenged the murder on the two 
hirelings of Malcolm and Donalbain. 

12. " We suspect that this passage did not come from the hand 
of S." — C. P. I see no ground for the suspicion. It suits well the 
irony of the passage. Lennox is speaking in ironical hyperbole all 
the way through. 

14. Ay, and ; crasis reduces to one syllable. 

17. borne, managed. 

19. shaU not [have them]. Cf. §§ 101-103 on "And, or an = if. 
When used with subjunctive, if is implied in the subjunctive, and 
and = plus, more, in addition. Later if was added to and, as the 
subjunctive was too weak to express the hypothesis alone." 

21. from broad words, on account of too free a tongue. 

fail'd his presence, a causal construction. Cf . III. i. 2 and K. i., 
II. iv. 144. 



194 MACBETH. Act IV. 

25. holds, withholds; the due of birth, the crown. 

27. of, by. Cf. 4 above and § 170. Edward the Confessor (1042- 
1066). 

28. nothing, not at all. 

30. upon his aid, for the purpose of aiding him; i.e., Malcolm. 
Cf. § 191. 

upon his = 'pon 's, metrically. Cf . § 498, Alexandrines doubtful. 

35. free . . . from bloody knives, perhaps a transposition. 

36. free honours, honors freely bestowed. 

38. exasperate. Cf. § 342, " Participle -ed omitted after d and 
t." Cf. T. and C, V. i. 34 and M.for M., II. ii. 154. 

39. Scan this line. 

41. me, the so-called ethical, that is, idiomatic, dative. Cf. 
§ 220, **Me, thee, him, etc., old datives, often used where we use 
for me, etc." 

42. as who should say. Cf. § 257, "Who for any one." In- 
definite use of who, as in O.E. Abbott thinks S. understood w^ho 
as a relative, for the antecedent can be supplied in all passages where 
he uses it ; but this is not so good an explanation. 

43. clogs, burdens. 

48. this our sufiering country, this country of ours suffering. 
Cf. § 419 a, " Transposition of Adjective Phrases." See V. viii. 7, 8, 
and many other examples. 

ACT IV. — Scene I. 

Ben Jonson's Mafique of Queens, found in Morley's Ben Jonson's 
Masques and Entertainments, may be compared with this caldron 
scene for many other ingredients in witches' incantations. S. doubt- 
less got them from Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft and the folk-lore 
of the day. The trochaic rhythm of the witches' speeches distin- 
guishes them from the iambic of Hecate's speech (39-43), and supports 
the view that the latter is interpolated. Chambers brackets it. 

1. brinded, brindled, brown streaked with black, used especially 
of cows. 

2. thrice and once. Editors differ as to whether this is four 
times or thrice, and once, separately, as the folios read, thrice being 
separated. 

hedge-pig, hedge-hog, or urchin. Cf. Temp., II. ii. 5. 



Scene I. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 195 

3. Harpier, possibly a misspelling for harpy. " Cf. Marlowe's 
Tamburlaine, 1590, for similar corruption, harper, which was cor- 
rected later."— C. P. 

6. cold. Either prefix the with Rowe and others, or prolong 
cold, as Abbott, § 484. Other emendations have been proposed. 
" Perhaps, however, the line is right as it stands, the two syllables, 
cold stone, when slowly pronounced being equivalent to three, as 
Temp., IV. i. 110, and M. N. D., II. i. 7." — C. P. Both references 
are given in Abbott, and many others. Cf. I. ii. 5, II. i. 19, 51, and 
IV. i. 122 (?). The last is better explained as omission of the un- 
accented syllable before the rhythmical pause. 

8. venom. " Steevens quotes from the old translation of Boc- 
caccio, 1620, ' an huge and mighty toad even weltering (as it were) in 
a hole full of poison.' " — C. P. Toads are often referred to as poison- 
ous, in accordance with the folk-lore of the day. 

10, 20. Cf. § 501, "Verses of four accents are rarely used by S. 
except when witches, or other extraordinary beings, are introduced 
as speaking," with this example. 

11. newt, lizard. O.E., efete; M. E., evete, ewete, ewet; an 
ew(e)t = a newt, by transferrence of n. The reverse process has 
taken place in nseddre, a nadder = an adder, and a few other words. 

16. adder's fork, the forked tongue of the adder. 
blind-v^orm, slow- worm. 

17. ho^vlet, owlet, young owl. O.E., vile; a misapplication of 
h. Cf. the M. E. poem. The Oivl and Nightingale (1250), and, for 
still earlier instances of this misapplication, Layamon's Brut, (1200). 

23. mummy, which was used by witches often. "Egyptian 
mummy, or what passed for it, was formerly a regular part of the 
Materia Medica." — Nares, in Furness. "Pharaoh is sold for bal- 
sams," Sir Thomas Browne, Urn-Burial, who tells us that Francis 
I. always " carried mummy with him as a panacea against all dis- 
orders." — Furness. 

maw, stomach; gulf, gullet, though C.P. explains it, too, as 
"stomach of voracious animals." 

24. ravin'd, gorged with prey; though it may mean ravenous, 
passive for active. Cf. II. iv. 28, and A. W., III. ii. 120. 

25. hemlock. Hemlock, henbane, nightshade, and others are 
mentioned in Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens, as poisonous plants, 
which witches gather. 



196 MACBETH. Act IV. 

28. sliver'd, cut, sliced. The yew was reckoned poisonous, says 
Douce ; eclipses were always considered unpropitious times for any 
undertaking. 

32. slab, thick, slimy. " There is also a verb slabber, and an 
adjective slabby ; there is no other example of the adjective slab ; 
doubtless related to slobbery,^. V., III. v. 13." — C. P. Compare 
for similar idea Gray's Fatal Sistei^s, 16: " Keep the tissue close and 
strong." 

33. chaudron, entrails. 

37. baboon. Cf. § 492, " Words in which the accent was nearer 
the beginning than with us." 

39. See Textual Notes. The stage direction and the speech of 
Hecate show signs of Middleton's tampering with the text. 

43. Here follows the Song from Middleton's The Witch, V. ii. (p. 
189, Mermaid ed.) : — 

SONG. 

" Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray, 
Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may. 

Titty, Tiffin, 

Keep it stiff in ; 
^ Firedrake, Puckey, 

Make it lucky ; 

Liard, Robin, 

You must bob in. 
Round, around, around, about, about ! 
All ill come running in, all good keep out ! " 

Compare note from Charles Lamb at foot of p. 190, Mermaid e^d., 
on Middleton's and S.'s witches. 

44. pricking of my thumb. This is of a piece with nose-itchings, 
ringing in the ears, etc., as ominous of future events. The Second 
Witch's speech is found in Davenant's Macbeth, but not in Middle- 
ton's The Witch. In the caldron scene in Middleton, Act V., Scene 
ii., Firestone, Hecate's son, brings the ingredients, Hecate repeats 
the charm, the Song given above, and, after the ingredients are all 
put in the caldron, Hecate, Stadlin, Hoppo, and other Witches, 
" dance the Witches' Dance, and exeunt." 

50. c6njure, so accented except in R. and J., II. i. 26, and 0th., 
I. iii. 105. See on 37 and § 492. 

53. yesty, frothy, like yeast. Cf. Ham., V. ii. 198. 



Scene I. EXPLANATOBY NOTES. 197 

54. navigation, abstract for concrete; how so? 

55. bladed corn; i.e., wheat before the grains are fully formed. 
lodged, levelled with the ground. 

57. slope their heads, tumble down flat. " The word slope does 
not occur elsewhere in S.'s dramas, either as substantive or verb." — 
C.P. 

59. nature's germ ens, seeds that produce nature. Cf. K. L., 
III. ii. 8, and W. T., IV. iv. 490. 

60. destruction sicken, a strong personification. Explain the 
figure. 

63. 'em, shortened from hem, and unemphatic. 

65. farrow, litter ; a particularly mean sow. 

sweaten, not found elsewhere. Cf. 344, "Irregular participial 
formations." It is a weak participle properly, sweated, but formed 
here on the analogy of a strong one. 

68. deftly, fitly, suitably to the occasion. Upton, Critical Ob- 
servations (1746), quoted in Furness, says: "The armed head repre- 
sents symbolically Macbeth's head cut off and brought to Malcolm by 
Macduff. The bloody child is Macduff, untimely ripped from his 
mother's womb. The child with a crown on his head, and a bough 
in his hand, is the royal Malcolm, who ordered his soldiers to hew 
them down a bough, and bear it before them to Dunsinane." 

72. me : enough, by crasis, m'enough. 

74. The Apparition struck the chord that was already timidly 
vibrating in Macbeth's breast. 

82. Though he need not fear Macduff, he will take no chances; 
but by slaying Macduff, put it out of the power of Fate to harm 
him. 

84. Cf. III. ii. 49, for a different use of bond. 

86. And sleep in spite of thunder. A fine idea, but the expres- 
sion has degenerated into slang. 

88-89. the round and top, the crown as an emblem of sover- 
eignty. 

89. This line may be read as two trimeters, or, by slurring sov- 
ereignty, reduced to a normal line. Cf. § 468. 

93. Birnam is twelve miles from Dunsinane, which is seven miles 
from Perth. Ritson, in Furness, says: "The present quantity of 
Dunsinane is right. In every subsequent instance the accent is mis- 
placed." 



198 MACBETH. Act IV. 

95. impress, compel. Cf. Ham., I. i. 75, for the noun. 

96. bodenients, prophecies. Cf. T. and C.,Y. iii. 80. 

97. See Textual Notes. "Let rebellion's head never rise till, 
etc." 

98. Either our, or your, as Walker, sounds strange in Macbeth's 
own mouth, as C. P. well says. 

99. lease of nature, natural term of life. 

102-103. This was the question of most interest to Macbeth, which 
had been already answered in the first interview with the Witches 
(I. iii. 67) ; but it was preying upon his mind, and he insisted on 
being satisfied. 

106. noise, music of hautboys (Hoboyes, Fi); perhaps the same 
instrument as that now so called. Besides meaning music, noise 
meant also a band of musicians. 

110. The sight would necessarily grieve Macbeth's heart, as con- 
firming his worst fears. 

Stage Direction after 111. A show of eight Kings, etc. " Banquo 
. . . was the ancestor of the Stuart family. . . . Robert II., Robert 
III., and the six Jameses make up the eight kings." — C. P. 

117. the crack of doom, the Day of Judgment, forever. 

121. twofold balls. "The 'two-fold balls' here mentioned 
probably refer to the double coronation of James at Scone and at 
Westminster." — C. P. 

treble sceptres. " The three sceptres of course symbolize the 
three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland " (C. P.); or, as 
some think. Great Britain, France, and Ireland, the kings of England 
having claimed to be kings of France from Edward III.'s time. 

122. Scan this line. Cf. on 6 and § 484. 

123. blood-bolter'd, clotted with blood. 

125-132. Most probably an interpolation of Middleton's. It is in 
iambic measure, which is suspicious, and the stage direction is incon- 
sistent with that after 43 ; for there Ave have "Exit Hecate," apd no 
mention is made of her re-entrance, while here we have "The 
Witches dance, and then vanish, with Hecate," who is not even 
present. 

126. amazedly, " in blank perplexity, as if paralyzed -by aston- 
ishment. Cf. Jf. i\^. D., IV. i. 143." — C. P. 

127. sprights, bad spelling for spirits. Cf. sprites, II. iii. 60, 
and III. V. 27. Sprights is used in Spenser, passim, to rime with 



Scene 11. EXPLANATORY NOTES, 199 

words in ights, and this blunder has established itself in the sense of 
sprites, as has the similar one, delights, 128, for delites ; use gives 
the law to language. 

130. antic round, antique dance; but the dance is out of place 
here, and is borrowed most probably from Middleton, The Witch, V. 
ii. (p. 199, Mermaid ed.) : — 

" Come, my sweet sisters ; let the air strike our tune, 
While we show reverence to yon peeping moon." 

Cf. on IV. i. 43 ff. 

antic. " Spelt as usual ' antique ' in the folios. Its modern sense 
of ' grotesque ' is probably derived from the remains of ancient 
sculpture rudely imitated and caricatured by mediaeval artists, and 
from the figures in Masques and Antimasques dressed in ancient 
costume; particularly satyrs and the like. But it acquired a much 
wider application. In T. N., II. iv. 3, the word means old-fashioned, 
quaint. Sometimes it means simply ancient, as Ham., II. ii. 291." 
-C. P. 

136. Tveird. Cf. § 485, with this example, under ei. 

142. Lennox knew this before. Cf . III. vi. 29, where the Lord had 
already told him. We have here an inconsistency in time-relation. 
Compare New Shakspere Society's Transactions for 1877-1879 (p. 206), 
and Christopher North's Time- Analysis of Macbeth, N. S. S. Transac- 
tions for 1875-1876 (p. 351 ff.). See Introduction, p. 42. 

145. flighty, quick ; the purpose should be executed at once. 

overtook. Cf. on III. iv. 109 and § 343. 

147. firstlings, first thoughts of my heart. 

151. Scan this line. 

153. For metre cf . § 497, " Apparent Alexandrines." 

" That trace him | in his (in^s) line." 

Why not scan as double trimeter ? 

155. sights. For this flights and sprites have been suggested, 
but no change is necessary. Sights gives a perfectly intelligible 
meaning. 

Scene II. 

4. traitors. There is difference of opinion as to whether the 
treason was to his family or to Macbeth, as shown by his flight : the 
latter is more probable. 



200 MACBETH. Act IV. 

6 ff. Wisdom ! i.e., in Lady Macduff's opinion it was scant wis- 
dom to forsake wife, children, and possessions. He lacked natural 
affection, and thought only of his own safety; fear predominated 
over love. 

9. touch, feeling. 

9-11. The truth of this statement may be questioned, but it 
serves to point the moral, nevertheless. 

17. the fits o' the season, the critical state of affairs, " the way 
the wind blows," as we say. Cf. Cor., III. ii. 33, 

19. And do not know ourselves^ i.e., to be traitors. 
19,20. A "very difficult expression" (C.P.), meaning, most 
probably, when we fear from every rumor, but with no good grounds, 
and are tossed to and fro on a sea of uncertainty. Cf. K. J., TV. ii.- 
145. 

22. each way and move. This has been variously emended, bvit 
it had better stay as it is. C. P. suggests: each way and none ; 
but move = movement, motion (Hudson), and it means "in every 
direction." 

23. Cf. § 399, " Ellipsis of Nominative;" i.e., it, with this ex- 
ample. 

shall for will, as often in S., expressive of future. 
24-25. The common aphorism, things are so bad that they must 
get better. 

28. 29. Cf. § 282, "So (that). That sometimes omitted," with 
this example. 

29. If I should stay longer, I should give way to tears. 

30. Cf. § 478, *' Sirrah, another and more vehement form of 
Sir;" addressed to inferiors, and so to the child. Cf. III. i. 44. 

32. Cf. § 193. With here used for on. Cf. E. II., III. ii. 175. 

34. lime, bird-lime. Cf. Te^ip., IV. i. 246. 

35. gin, snare. Cf. T. N., II. v. 92. 

36. they, referring to the snares of various kinds just mentioned, 
birds being the inverted object of for. "The boy's precocious 
intelligence enhances the pity of his early death." — C P. 

37. for, in spite of. Cf . § 154. 

38. how^ = what ; for = for lack of, in place of. 
40. me, dative for myself. 

44. i.e., traitor to Macbeth. 

47. swears and lies, swears allegiance, and proves false to it. 



Scene HI. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 201 

56. enow. For this plural compare on II. iii. 5, and M. of V., III. 
V. 24. 

65. I am well acquainted with your rank. Cf. R. III., III. vii. 
120. 

66. doubt, fear, as often. Cf. K. J., IV. i. 19. 

67. homely, plain. 

69. to fright, frighten, as often. Cf. E. II., I. iii. 137. 
Cf. § 356, **To originally used with Gerund in -e." 

70. were, suhjunctive = would be. 

feU, " This word is said to have a Celtic origin." — C. P. Italian, 
feUo. Cf. T. N, I. i. 22, " fell and cruel," 

72. Whither = whith'r, metrically. Scan this line. 

75. sometime, not distinguished from sometimes. Cf. I. vi. 11. 

82. shag-hair'd, shaggy-haired, rough-haired. See Textual 
Notes. 

83. fry, spawn. What figure is used here ? 

Scene III. 

This long scene between Malcolm and MacdufE does not add any- 
thing to the interest of the drama, and seems to be inserted to fill up 
time, and to bring to Macduff the news of the murder of his wife and 
children. It is founded on Holinshed. 

3. mortal, deadly, as in III. iv. 81. Cf. K. J., III. i, 259. 

4. bestride our down-fall'n birthdom, defend our unfortu- 
nate country against the usurper. *' birthdom here does not, as we 
think, signify 'birthright,' but 'the land of our birth.'" — C. P. 
Cf. 2 H. iv., I. i. 207. 

6. heaven . . .it; i.e., the sky, which resounds with the blows, 
and utters like sounds of pain ; the pathetic fallacy. Cf. Temp., I. 
ii. 4. Cf . § 283, " So before that frequently omitted." Cf. on I. ii. 58. 

8. Scan this liae. syllable changed to syllables by Pope. For 
dolour, cf. R. II., I. iii. 257. 

10. to friend, as a friend. Cf. § 189, "To equivalent to 'ap- 
position.' " Latin, habemus Deum amico. 

" The King had no port to friend." — Clarendon's History, 7. 

11. what ... it. Cf. §§ 242-243, "Pronoun inserted, etc.," and 
R. II., Y. V. 18. 

12. w^hose sole name, whose name alone. 



202 MACBETH. Act IV. 

14. Scan this line. 

15. and -wisdom, ellipsis of it is. Cf. § 403. Various emenda- 
tions have been proposed. C. P. says: " There is certainly some cor- 
ruption of the text here. . . . Perhaps awhole line has dropped out." 

16. lamb. Malcolm was the lamb that Macduff was to offer up. 
19, 20. recoil, may give way to evil at an imperial command. 
21. transpose, change. Cf. M. iV. B., I. i. 233. 

23. Tv^ould, where we use should. Cf. on I. vii. 34 and § 331 for 
Abbott's explanation ; but we now certainly use should in such sen- 
tences. 

24. g:race, goodness, which must still look like itself. Whj had 
Macduff lost his hopes ? 

26. rawness, haste. This abandonment of wife and children 
naturally suggested doubts to Malcolm, for it was a most unnatural 
thing to do. Was it patriotism that led Macduff to do it ? 

27. motives; i.e., of affection. Ci. T. of A., Y. Iy. 27. 

29. jealousies, suspicions ; other plurals probably by attraction. 

30. Scan this line. Cf. §454 on " Extra syllable before a pause." 

33. To what does thou refer ? 

34. alFeer'd, confirmed. "O. F.,affeurer; Low Latin, afForare, 
to fix the price of a thing." — Skeat. 

37. to boot, an early use of a very common expression. In O. E. 
laws to bote = as a penalty, and so as a recompense ; hence, in addi- 
tion. Cf. 2 H. IV., III. i. 29. 

40, 41. it . . . her, change of gender to avoid the use of the rare 
its ; withal, besides. 

43. England, Edward the Confessor. Cf. E. J., II. i. 52. 

47. shall, where we use -will, as often. Cf . § 315. 

49. What = who. Cf . § 254 and V. vii. 2. 

50. Malcolm will test Macbeth as far as possible. There is too 
much of it. 

51. grafted, ingrafted. 

55. confineless, boundless, unlimited. Not used elsewhere. 

57. top, excel; Scan this line. 

58. luxurious, lecherous, as always in S. 

"In the modern sense we find it as early as Beaumont and 
Fletcher, and in Milton it has always either the modern sense, or that 
of 'luxuriant.' "— C.P. 

64. continent, restraining. Cf. L. L. L., I. i. 262. 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 203 

66. such an one. Cf . III. iv. 131, and IV. iii. 101, such a one. 
Scan this line. It has been proposed to omit boundless, but this 

is unnecessary. 

67. nature, natural disposition. 

71. convey, secretly enjoy. 

72. hoodwmk, blind, deceive. Cf. A. W., III. vi. 26. 

the time ; i.e., the people of the time. Cf . I. v. 61, and I. vii. 81. 
78. staunchless, unquenchable, insatiable. 

80. his, this one's. Cf. § 217, " His used like hie." 

81. The more I should have, the more I should want. 
81. Macduff thinks avarice worse than lust. 

86. summer-seeming, appearing only in the summer of youth ; 
" befitting, or looking like, summer." — C. P. 

87. S"v^^ord, cause of death. 

88. foisons, plenty. Frh., foison ; Latin, fusionem, a pouring- 
out. Cf. Temp., IV. i. 110. 

"The word is still used in the south of England for the juice of 
grass, and in Scotland for the sap of a tree." — C. P. 

89. mere OT^^n, very own. Cf . § 15, " mere = unmixed with any- 
thing; hence, intact, complete." Latin, merus, pure. 

portable, supportable, endurable. Cf. K. L., III. vi. 115. 

90. with other graces weigh'd, counterbalanced by your virtues. 
93. Scan this line. Cf . § 492, and T. and C., III. iii. 150. 

96. several, separate, as often. 

97. Scan this line. 

99. uproar, upset by. causing disturbance ; used only here. 

104. untitled, lacking a legal title. 

bloody-scepter'd. Some take this with nation; others, with 
tjTant: the latter seems best. 

105. "wholesome, prosperous. 

106. since that. Cf. 287, "That as a conjunctional affix." 
108. blaspheme his breed, slander his descent. 

111. She died to earth, but lived to heaven every day. Cf. 1 Cor. 
XV. 31, " I die daily." Scan this line, and cf. § 480 on prolongation 
of monosyllables. See Textual Notes. 

114 ff. Malcolm now shows that he has been simply testing Mac- 
duff's sincerity. 

passion, emotion, as often. 

117. Scan this line. 



204 MACBETH. Act IV. 

118. trains, stratagems, devices. Macbeth liad evidently tried 
before to tempt Malcolm back. 
119, 120. Prevents him from believing every comer. 

122. and, a weak ending. Cf. II. i. 13. These are the only two 
well-defined examples of weak endings in the play, and they helj) to 
determine its chronological position. 

123. Take back what I have said. 

133. here-approach. Cf. § 148, here-remain, and § 429 on ad- 
verbial compounds. 

134. Siward, son of Beorn, Earl of Northumberland. He "ren- 
dered great service to King Edward in the suppression of the rebel- 
lion of Earl Godwin and his sons, 1053." — C. P. 

135. at a point, equipxoed, prepared. 

136. goodness, success ; a wish, with the auxiliary omitted. 

137. warranted quarrel, one that has abundant justification. As 
the quarrel is just, success should follow. Scan this line. 

140-159. This is probably an interpolation. It does no good, and 
interrupts the progress of the action. It may have been written by 
S. to please James I., and inserted just before a representation at 
Court, as C. P. editors think; but that does not justify it. He found 
authority for it, however, in Holinshed. 

141. there are a crew, plural verb with collective noun. 

142. stay, await; convinces, exceeds, over^DOwers. 

144. sanctity, holiness, and so virtue. 

145. presently, immediately, as often in S. 

146. evil, king's evil, scrofula. The superstition that kings could 
heal this disease by a touch long prevailed. Dr. Johnson was taken 
to Queen Anne to be touched for it in 1712. — C. P. 

"As late as 1745 Prince Charles at Holyrood touched a child for 
the evil." — Rolfe. 

148. here-remain. Cf. 133, here-approach, and § 429. 

149. solicits, prevails by solicitation; i.e., prayer. 

150. strangely-visited, peculiarly affected. 

152. mere, very. Cf. on 89 and § 15. 

153. golden stamp, coin. An angel, equal ten shillings, was used 
before Charles II. 's time, but he had a special medal struck for the 
purpose. "The identical touch-piece which Queen Anne hung 
around the neck of Dr. Johnson is preserved in the British Mu- 
seum." — C. P. 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 205 

154. prayers. A form of prayer for this service was inserted in 
the Prayer-Book in 1684, but omitted in 1719. — C. P. 

155. The power descended by succession. 

157. This addition to tlie power of healing is taken from Holins- 
hed's Chronicle. 

159. speak him, declare him to be. Cf. Temp., II. i. 207. 

160. Ross is recognized by liis dress. 

163. the means that makes. Cf . on II. i. 61 and § 333. means 
is, however, used as a singular. Cf. W. T., IV. iv. 89. 
166-167. where nothing, where no one but he who knows nothing. 

170. a modern ecstasy, an ordinary emotion. Cf . A. W., II. iii. 2. 

171. for who. "Who for whom." § 274, with this example. 

173. or ere, possibly a reduplication, or, O.E., aer from *ar; 
M. E., ar, or, er, = ere, before ; ere is not for e'er, ever, thougli it is 
so used in S.'s Sonnets, 93, 133; and or ever in Ps. Iviii. 8 (Prayer- 
Book version), and Dan. vi. 24. Cf. Temp., I. ii. 11 and § 131. 
Ever may have been substituted for ere. 

174. Scan this line, nice, exact, minute. 

175. Because it is already stale. 

176. teems, produces. 

177. children = chUd(e)ren. Cf . I. v. 40 and § 477. 

178-179. peace. Note tlie paronomasia in this word. Cf. R. II., 
III. ii. 127-128. 

183. w^ere out, had taken up arms. 

184. the rather. On the with comparative, cf . on III. i. 25 and § 74. 

185. for that. Cf . on 106 and § 287 ; also § 288, " Origin of that ; " 
here it is demonstrative, or an abridgment of for that that; O.E., 
for tham the. 

188. doff, do off, lay aside. Cf. 1 H. IV., V. i. 12. Used meta- 
phorically here and R. and J., II. ii. 47. — C. P. 

189. hath, a light ending; i.e., auxiliary in final accented place. 
191. none. Cf. on 15 and § 403 for ellipsis. 

194-195. Hudson rightly says: " Present usage would here trans- 
pose should and would ; " but S.'s usage was different from present 
usage, and in accordance with that of other Elizabethan writers. He 
was not tied down by the modern grammar-made rules, which are 
not in accordance with the usage of the older language. Cf. § 329 on 
"Would for will, wish." 

195. latch, catch. O. E., Iseccan; M. E., lacehen. 



206 MACBETH. Act IV. 

196, fee-grief, grief owned in fee by one person. 

198. but, that does not share some woe in it; a common use of 
but after a negative. 

202. possess, cause them to possess. Cf . M. W., I. iii. 110. 

201. Ross had delayed this announcement, gradually leading up to 
it, in order to give Macduff time to prepare for it.. 
. 206. quarry, dead game, especially deer. Cf. Cor., I. i. 202. 

210. o'er-fraught, over-burdened. Silent grief is more oppres- 
sive than that which finds utterance in words. Cf. on 154 and § 200 
for omission of preposition ; also 1/. J.., III. i. 4. 

212. must, is, or was, destined to be ; had to be. Cf . § 314. 

216. " The words would be tame if applied to Malcolm, as Mai one 
takes them," though cf. K. J., III. i. 91. — C. P. It is better to take 
them as applying to Macbeth, with C. P., Deighton, and Manly; but 
Hudson, Rolfe, and Chambers prefer to apply them to Malcolm. 

220. dispute it, contend against it. Cf. R. and J., III. iii. 63. 

221. Struggling against his grief could not prevent him from feel- 
ing it. 

224-227. Macduff realizes, when too late, the perils to which he 
had exposed his wife and children by abandoning them to Macbeth's 
vengeance. 

225. naught, vile, worthless thing. Cf. R. and J., III. ii. 87. 

229. convert, change, intransitive use. Cf . R. II., V. iii. 64. 

232. intermission, delay. Cf. M. of V., III. ii. 201. 

front to front, face to face. 

235. Heaven forgive him too! '' Put him once within reach of 
my sword, and if I don't kill him, then I am as bad as he, and may 
God forgive us both." — Hudson. 

tune. Howe's excellent emendation for time, ¥i. 

manly is used adverbially. § 447, "Ly found with noun, and yet 
not appearing to convey an adjective meaning," with this example. 
Cf. Ham., I. ii. 202. 

237. We have nothing to do but take our leave of the king, or get 
his permission to set out. 

238. is ripe for shaking, as fruit ready to fall. 

239. put on their instruments, urge on the tools of their aven- 
ging justice ; namely, Malcolm, Macduff, and their forces. Cf . II. iv. 
10, III. i. 80. Scan this line. 

240. Possibly this is an ancient proverb. 



Scene I. EXPLANATOUY NOTES. 207 



ACT v. — Scene I. 

4. Since his majesty went into the field. C. P. suggests that 
*' Macbeth had taken the field to suppress the native rebels, . . . and 
that the arrival of their English auxiliaries had compelled him to 
retire to his castle at Dunsinane." 

5. nightgOAvn, dressing-wrapper as we should call it. Cf. on 
II. ii. 70. 

10. effects, acts. Cf. K. L., II. iv. 182. 

11. slumbery agitation, agitation during sleep ; " not used else- 
where by S." — C. P. § 450, " Y appended to a noun to form an ad- 
jective," with this example. 

21. close, concealed. Cf. J. C, I. iii. 131. 

26. sense is, Rowe's emendation for sense are, F^ . Cf. on II. 
iv. 14 ; horse', as some read. Cf . Sonnet 112, 10, and § 471. 

32. Yet here's a spot. Lady Macbeth's first utterance accom- 
panying her action shows that the blood-stain had burnt into her 
soul, and a little water had failed to clear her of the deed, however 
indifferent she was before. 

37. HeU is murky! " Her recollections of the deed and its 
motives alternate with recollections of her subsequent remorse and 
dread of future punishment." — C.P. 

38. Referring to Macbeth's hesitation to commit the crime. 
40. Duncan's murder makes the first impression. 

Yet who would have thought the old man to have had. A 
common construction in S., but ruled out by modern grammarians. 
Cf. §360 on "Infinitive, Complete Present," used after verbs of 
hoping, intending, etc. Cf. Ham., V. i. 268 ; Cymh., III. vi. 48 ; M. A., 
II. i. 261. 

43, Lady Macduff's murder increases the impression. 

46. Referring to Macbeth's vision of the Ghost of Banquo, III. iv. 
60-68. 

51. Compare Verplanck, in Furness, on the smell of blood. 

54. sorely charged, oppressed with its recollections. 

61.^ those Tvhich . . . vrho. § 266, "Which, like that, is less 
definite than who," with this example. Who = qui ; w^hich = 
qu^lis. 

64. Banquo's murder also haunts her dreams. 

67. A recurrence to the knocking at the gate in ii. 2, ad fin. 



208 MACBETH. Act V. 

71. directly, immediately. 

71-75. She has betrayed herself, and the doctor cannot heal her. 

77. annoyance, injury to herself. 

79. mated, confounded, struck dead. " The word, originally 
used at chess, from the Arabic shah mat, the king is dead, whence 
our ' checkmate,' became common in one form or other in almost all 
European languages." amated occurs in Fairfax's Tasso, Book XI., 
stanza 12, " Stood hush'd and still, amated and amazed." — C. P. 

Scene II. 

This is a transition scene, serving to make known the arrival of 
the English force near the castle of Dunsinane, where Macbeth was. 

3. dear causes, deep provocations. 

5. the mortified man. C.P. gives Warburton's conjecture, 
" a religious," " an ascetic," but aptly suggests: "May it not mean 
' the dead man '? ' mortified ' in the literal sense." This seems to 
be the true meaning, allowing for the hyperbole. Even a dead man 
would be aroused to blood and arms by such provocations as Malcolm 
and Macduff had. I see no ground for the superstition of a bleeding 
corpse. 

8. file, list, as in III. i. 94. 

10. unrough, beardless. Cf. Temp., II. i. 250. 

11. protest, proclaim, display. 

15-16. Control his dissatisfied followers. Cf. T. and C., II. ii. 30. 

18. His nobles continually revolt as retribution for his own treach- 
ery, faith -breach is not found elsewhere in S. 

23. pester'd, hampered, and so troubled. 

to recoil, for recoiling. § 356, " Infinitive indefinitely used." Cf. 
T. of S., 111. \n. 27. 

?T, medicine. What figure is this ? Cf. A. W., II. i. 75. 
• 28. him. To whom is reference made ? 

30. sovereign. What play upon this word ? Cf. Cor., II. i. 127. 

Scene III. 

3. taint, become infected ; intransitive use. 

5. mortal consequences, happenings to man. 

me, dative. On metre, § 496, " Apparent Alexandrines from 



Scene III. EXPLANATORY NOTES. - 209 

non-observance of contractions," with this example; consequences 
is dissyllabic, § 471. But compare Walker, in Furness. 

7. power upon. Cf. III. i. 17, A. and C, I. iii. 23, and § 191. 

8. " Gluttony was a common charge brought by the Scotch 
against their wealthier neighbors." — C. P. 

9. SAvay by, are directed by, according to most editors; but also, 
rule by. 

10. sag, bend, as a beam in the centre when supporting too great 
a weight ; in very common use. 

This whole speech of Macbeth shows his perturbation of mind, 
aixT a disposition to bolster up his spirits by relying upon the predic- 
tions of the weird sisters. 

11. loon, rogue, worthless fellow. Cf. 0th., II. iii. 95, lown. 

12. goose look, silly look of fright. 

13. There is. Cf. on II. iii. 131, IV. iii. 163, and § 335. 

15. lily-liver'd. A white liver is the sign of a coward. Cf . K. L., 
II. ii. 18. 

patch, fool. "Florio gives *Pazzo, a foole, a patch, a mad- 
man;' " but cf. M. N. n., IV. i. 237, "where Bottom says: 'Man is 
but a patched fooL'" — C.P. Cf. also M. N. D., III. ii. 9, and 
M. of v., II. V. 45. 

16. linen cheeks, cheeks white as linen. Cf. H. V., II. ii. 74. 

17. whey-face, face white as whey ; all these expressive of fear. 

20. push, attack about to be made upon him. 

21. See Textual Notes. If we read chair, we should read dis- 
seat ; but cheer and dis-ease seem preferable, and involve less de- 
parture from the Folios. He stakes all on this throw, which will 
permanently cheer him or at once dis-ease him. Compare Furness, 
and especially his own Note (pp. 268-269) : " Dis-ease is the logical 
antithesis to cheer, and used with no little force in the earlier ver- 
sions of the New Testament. In lAike viii. 49 (both in Cranmer's 
Version, 1537, and in the version of 1581), 'thy daughter is dead, dis- 
ease not the master.' " 

22. There is no good reason for Dr. Johnson's change of way to 
May; -way of life = life; May of life is too rhetorical for S., though 
C. P. says : " Very probably S. wrote ' May,' but we have not inserted 
it in the text, remembering with what careless profusion our poet 
heaps metaphor on metaphor." Cf. R. II., III. iv. 48, 49. 

23. sear, sere, dry, withsred, as leaves that have turned yellow 



210 MACBETH. Act V. 

in the fall. This might possibly countenance May ; May has turned 
to November. 

27. mouth-honour, honor from the lips, not from the heart. 

28. fain deny, gladly refuse. Cf. III. iv. 128. Macbeth realizes 
his forsaken condition as the consequence of his crimes, which de- 
manded curses both loud and deep, if those who uttered them in low 
tones had not been afraid of the usurper. 

32. This was all that was left for him to do, and he puts on a bold 
face. 

35. more, moe in Fx as often before a plural noun. Cf. R. II., 
II. i. 239 and M. of F., I. i. 108. 

skirr, scorn; used only here and in \ff. V., IV. vii. 64. 

38. thick-coming, crowding thickly upon one another, 

40. Thou. On use of Thou, see § 231, "Thou used (1) of affec- 
tion to friends ; (2) to servants ; (3) contempt to strangers ; archaic, 
and used (4) in higher poetic style, and in prayer, like German Du, 
French tu." Cf. 37 and 57, your. 

40-45. A grand passage in the mouth of some one else. 

43. oblivious, causing forgetfulness ; proleptic use. Cf . I. iii. 74, 

44. stuff 'd . . . stuff. " This can hardly be right. One or 
other of these words must be due to a mistake o^ transcriber or 
printer." — C. P. This may be, but S. is fond of such plays upon words, 
even in serious passages. Various conjectures have been made. 

46. I'll none of it, omission of verb. Cf. Prov. i. 25. 

50. cast, examine ; diagnose the condition of his kingdom. 

52. purge, cleanse. Cf. III. iv. 76. 

53. would for present should, as often. 

54. 58. it, his armor, which he puts on and pulls off again. 

55. senna. Cyme, F^ . " In Cotgrave it is spelt sene and senne, 
and defined to be 'a little purgative shrub or plant.' By caeny, the. 
editor of F2 meant the same thing." — C. P. 

This disjointed speech of Macbeth shows still further his per- 
turbed condition of mind ; he goes forth to fight. 

Scene IV. 

2. That, on which, when. § 284, " That for because, when. 
That represents different cases of the relative, and may mean in 
that, for that, because (quod), or at which time (quum)." 



Scene V. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 211 

6. discovery; that is, by scouts. Cf. K. L., V. i. 53. , 
8. no other but, no other thing except that. Cf. § 12, " Use of 
other as a singular pronoun," with this example ; and § 127, " But in 
the sense of except frequently follows negative comparatives, where 
we should use than." Cf. Ham., II. ii. 56 and Co7\, I. ii. 18. 

10. setting down before it, besieging it. Cf. Cor., I. ii. 28. 

11. given. Various conjectures have been made here. Dyce and 
Hudson read ta'en, which is the best of them. C. P. says: ''The 
passage, as it stands, is not capable of any satisfactory explanation." 

12. more and less, greater and less, those of high and low rank. 
CL2H. jr., I. i. 209. 

14. censures, decisions.. Let our decisions await the result of 
the battle; then we can tell better about it. Let us not relax our 
efforts by trusting to revolt. 

18. owe. Almost all editors take this in the modern sense, as 
antithesis to have; but Steevens says, possess. 

19, 20. There is no use in speculating on the issue ; strokes must 
decide it. Scan line 19. 

Scene V. 

5. forc'd, reinforced. Cf. T. mid C, V. i. 64. 

6. dareful, in the open field ; its' only use in S. 
11. fell of hair, hairy scalp. Cf. K. L., V. iii. 24. 
.12. treatise, story. Cf. M. A., I. i. 317. 

14. direness, things direful ; abstract for concrete. 

15. start, startle. Cf. A. W., V. iii. 232. 

17. should. Does this mean ought to, or was bound to ? 

" The complete calmness and apparent indifference with which 
Macbeth receives the news of his wife's death prove that his crimes 
and desperation had made him as incapable of feeling grief as fear." 
— C.P. 

18. vrord, utterance; i.e., that the queen is dead. Cf. R. II., I. 
iii. 152. 

19-23. Day follows day to the end of time, and fools have died on 
each one of them. 

23. dusty, suggested probably by the Burial Service, "dust to 
dust." Theobald's dusky, as C.P. says, "seems too feeble an epi- 
thet to describe the darkness of the grave." 



212 MACBETH. ActV 

25. "Other references to the stage may be found, I. iii. 128, and 
II. iv. 5, 6 of this play. Cf. also T. and C, I. iii. 153." Cf. also 
A. Y. L., II. vii. 139 ff., the locus classicus. 

26-28. tale, etc., mere idle words with no meaning in them. This 
speech is very pessimistic. 

31. should, ought to. § 323, "Should for ought." say, affirm. 

34. niethoug'ht, it seemed to me ; impersonal. Cf . § 497 on use of 
impersonal verbs in Elizabethan English. 

37. this three mile, used as one whole ; the singular mile with 
numerals is not uncommon. Cf. M. A., II. iii. 17, and 1 H. IV., III. 
iii. 54. 

40. cling, wither, shrivel ; generally used intransitively. 
sooth, truth. O. E., soth. 

41. The fulfilment of the prophecy staggers Macbeth. 

42. pull in; i.e., rein in, check, according to editors. Why not 
pull back in my resolution, falter ? 

49. aweary, of-wery, tired out. Cf. J. C, IV. iii. 95, and 
M. of v., I. ii. 2. §24 (3), "A used as prefix of participles and ad- 
jectives." 

50. estate, order. I wish the elements were dissolved. 

51. wrack, old spelling of wreck, destruction. 

52. harness, armor, as often. Cf. 1 Kings xxii. 34. 

Scene VI. 

1. leavy is in the Folios, but many editors change it to leafy. 

2. Holinshed makes Siward Malcolm's grandfather, Duncan 
having married his daughtei. 

4. battle, battalion, division of the force. Cf. K. J., IV. ii. 78. 

5. to do, active for passive. § 359, " Infinitive active where we 
use passive, especially common in ' what's to do? ' " 

7. Do we, condition. Cf. § 364 for Subjunctive used optatively 
or imperatively. 

10. harbingers, forerunners. Cf. on I. iv. 45. 

Scene VII. 

1, 2. stake, to which the bear was tied in bear-baiting. Mac- 
beth is compelled to fight it out. 



Scene VIII. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 213 

What's he. § 254, " What for who," with this reference. 

7. any is, any that is. §244, "Omission of Relative. The 
Relative is frequently omitted, especially where the antecedent 
clause is emphatic and evidently incomplete." This is common in 
S. Cf. 31. of v., I. i. 175. 

9. fearful, to be feared, terrible ; passive use. 

17. kerns, originally light-armed troops ; here, common soldiers 
generally. Cf. on I. ii. 13. 

18. staves, spear-shafts. 

either = eith'r, monosyllabic; but cf. §466 on th and r softened, 
with this example under either. 

thou lacks predicate ; perhaps " come " is to be supplied. 

20. undeeded, not used for any deeds of valor. 

21. clatter ; its only use in S. 

22. bruited, announced. Cf. Ham., I. ii. 127. 
24. gently render'd, quietly surrendered. 

27. itself professes, inversion. 

28. is to do. Cf. on 5 and §359; also §405 on "Ellipses after 
will and is." See V. viii. 64. 

29. strike beside us, strike on our side. C. P. says, " deliberately 
miss us," and compares 3 H. VI., II. i. 129; so Schmidt, " strike the 
air; " but this is not likely here. I prefer the explanation of Delius, 
in Furness: "This refers to Macbeth's people who had gone over to 
the enemy." The foes with whom they had met fought on their side. 



Scene VIII. 

Scenes vii. and viii. form one scene in the Folios. Most modern 
editors divide it at this point. 

1. the Roman fool, "Referring either to Cato or to Brutus, or 
to both. Cf . J. C, V. i. 101." — C. P. 

2. lives, living persons. Cf. on I. v. 5, and II. i. 60, for whiles. 
4. Of all men else. Else is superfluous and illogical. Cf. §409, 

" Confusion of two constructions in superlatives," with this example. 

7. bloodier. Cf. § 419 a, " Transposition of adjective phrases," 
with this exaraple. 

9 easy. For the use of adjectives as adverbs, cf. II. iii. 143 
and § 1. 



214 MACBETH. Act V. 

intrencliant, that cannot be cut. Cf. § 3. Cf. Ham., I. i. 146, 
and IV. i. 44. 

12. must not, a strong negation. 

13. Despair, without preposition. Cf . § 200. 

14. angel, evil angel, the Devil. Cf . 2 H IV., I. ii. 186. 
still, always. Cf. § 69. 

17. This information weakens Macbeth's courage. 

18. my better part of man, the better part of my manhood. Cf . 
§ 423, " Transposition of Noun-clauses." 

20. palter, equivocate. Cf. J. C., II. i. 126, and T. and C, II. iii. 
244. 

24. i.e., live to be exhibited as a show and gazing-stock. 

26. painted upon a pole; i.e., painted upon a cloth, and the 
cloth hung upon a pole, as a sign. 

32. the last, the last chance ; fight to the last. 

34. Mm. There is no need of Pope's correction he. § 208, " Him 
for he," with this example. 

After 34 the stage directions of the Folios are inconsistent. C. P. 
says: " This points to some variations in the mode of concluding the 
play. In all likelihood S.'s part in the play ended here. In modern 
times we believe it is the practice for Macduff to kill Macbeth on the 
stage." 

36. go off, die ; a euphemism. 

40. but. Cf. § 130, "Redundant use of but," with this example. 

41. The which. Cf. § 270, "The used because which is an in- 
definite adjective, and makes it more definite." Scan this line, and 
see § 470 for contraction of prowess. 

43. But, used after a negative =but that. § 127, " But = ex- 
cept, frequently follows negative comparatives where we use than," 
with this example. 

44. cause of sorrow, pleonastic use for sorrow. 

50. his knell is knoll'd, he is dead, and that ends it. 

51. This is too Roman-like to be natural. 

52. parted, departed, died. Cf. i^. F., II. iii. 12. Score, debt to 
nature. "This account of the death of Siward's son is taken, not 
like the rest of the incidents of the play, from Holinshed's History of 
Scotland, but from the same writer's History of England.'^ — C. P. 

54. stands. " Holinshed says that Macduff set the head upon a 
pole and brought it to Malcolm." — C. P. 



Scene VHI. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 215 

55. the time. Cf. on I. v. 61, and IV. iii. 72. 

56. pearl, if retained, is used collectively: but that sounds 
strangely; pearls would be better; pearle, Fj, may be a misprint 
for pearls, as the plural is needed. Rowe suggested peers, which 
White approves. 

57. The plural in this line shows that pearl should be pearls. 

58. desire aloud, desire to cry aloud ; it is elliptical. 

60. expense, the cognate accusative. 

61. your several loves, the love of each of you to me. 

64. what's more to do. Cf. on V. vii. 28 and § 405. 

65. planted newly, done at once. 

68. producing forth, bringing out of their hiding-places. 

70. self and violent hands, her own violent hands. Cf. R. II., 
III. ii. 166 and § 20 on use of Self. 

71. what needful else, what else is needful. 

72. the grace of Grace. Cf . A. W., II. i. 163. 

74. one. Abbott says (§80): "One probably pronounced by S. 
not vron but un," with this example ; but this is improbable. One, 
O. E., an, M. E., on, one, is long, and both one and Scone were most 
probably pronounced with a long 5. Cf. on II. i. 49, and III. iv. 131. 

75. Scone. Cf. on II. iv. 31. 

Compare Furness (pp. 299, 300) for quotations from Johnson, 
Steevens, Campbell, and Hallam. With his usual moralizing, Dr. 
Johnson says: "The passions are directed to their true end. Lady 
Macbeth is merely detested, and though the courage of Macbeth pre- 
serves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall." While 
this is true with respect to Macbeth, it admits of question whether 
Lady Macbeth is " merely detested." What do you think about it? 



APPENDIX. 



INTERPOLATIONS IN "MACBETH," AND MIDDLETON'S 
SUPPOSED SHARE IN THEM. 



At the close of the Introduction to this play, brief reference 
was made to the assumed " interpolations in Macbeth,'"' and to 
Middleton's play of The Witch, which was supposed to be some 
years later than Shakespeare's Macheth, its exact date being un- 
known. These interpolations deserve a closer consideration ; 
and if certain passages are interpolated, can we discover the 
interpolator ? 

Hudson remarks (Appendix to school edition of Macbeth, 
" Shakespeare and Middleton," p. 169) : " Every one ripely 
conversant with Shakespeare's manner, and thoroughly at home 
in his idiom of thought and language, especially in his peculiar 
mode of conceiving and working out character, must, I think, 
have at least a dim. sense, if not a clear perception, of dishar- 
mony and incongruity in certain portions of this tragedy." He 
had long had such a feeling, especially in respect to the con- 
trast between the Witch-speeches in Act I., Scene iii., before 
Macbeth and Banquo enter, and after they enter ; and in Act 
I., Scene ii., he felt " that either Shakespeare assumed a style 
not properly his own, or else that another hand than Shake- 
speare's held the pen." But the theory of interpolation by 
Middleton vvas not broached until Clark and Wright published 

216 



APPENDIX. 217 

the Clarendon Press edition in 1869 ; and Hudson agrees in 
the main with most of their conclusions. The C. P. editors 
say (Introduction, p. xii.) : " On the whole, we incline to think 
that the play was interpolated after Shakespeare's death, or at 
least after he had withdrawn from all connection with the 
theatre. The interpolator was, not improbably, Thomas Mid- 
dleton, who, to please the 'groundlings,' expanded the parts 
originally assigned by Shakespeare to the weird sisters, and 
also introduced a new character, Hecate. The signal infe- 
riority of her speeches is thus accounted for." 

So, too, Mr, Fleay (^Shakespeare Manual, Part II., Chapter 
X., p. 245), in his essay on Macbeth, says : " Were it not that 
I have the high authority of the Cambridge editors [Clark 
and Wright] to countenance me in my main theory of this 
play, I should almost fear to produce it," on account, as he 
adds, of the popular prejudice against such a hypothesis, 
which is, that Macbeth, in its present state, is an altered copy 
of the original drama, and the alterations were made by Mid- 
dleton. Fleay first condenses the argument of Clark and 
Wright, and goes somewhat further than they do, but he does 
not reject the " Porter " part (Act IL, Scene iii.). Before 
noticing the specific portions of the play thought to be inter- 
polated, it is necessary to notice the two songs given by their 
first lines in the stage directions after III. v. 33, and IV. i. 
43. These songs are found in full in an edition of Macbeth 
published in 1673, which is otherwise a reprint of the First 
Folio text, and in Davenant's edition of 1674, " with all the 
alterations, amendments, additions, and !N^ew Songs, as it is 
now acted at the Duke's Theatre " (see Furness, p. 303) ; and 
Clark and Wright state that they were thought to be by Dave- 
nant, until a copy of Middleton's play. The Witch, was discov- 



218 APPENDIX. 

ered by Steevens in 1779 (though Dyce says that Reed had 
copies of the play privately printed in 1778), and there they 
stand in full. A few other passages (some half-dozen are 
mentioned by the C. P. editors) show similarity to passages 
in The Witch; so that Steevens held that Shakespeare had 
copied from Middleton, but Malone, after concurring in this 
view, later refuted it at length. The songs were not printed 
in full in Macbeth, because, as Hudson suggests, they "were 
presumed to be so well known to the actors of the play in the 
form it then had [1623], that a bare indication of them was 
enough." 

The date of Middleton's play is not known, but he lived 
until 1627 ; and it is now thought that it was written about 
1615-1616, after Shakespeare's retirement from the stage, if 
not after his death, hence after the original form of Macbeth.^ 

1 Cf. Middleton, Mermaid Series, vol. ii., p. viii., ad Jin. The 
editor of this edition, Mr. Havelock Ellis, says: " The Witch has 
been included in the present volume chiefly on account of its 
witch-scenes. They are interesting for their own sake, and also 
for comparison with the corresponding scenes in Macbeth. The old 
controversy, as to Shakespeare's debt to Middleton, or Middleton's to 
Shakespeare, has died out. It seems now to be generally agreed that 
there was no debt on either side, but that subsequent adapters inter- 
polated portions of Middleton's play into Shakespeare's. Putting 
aside the witch-scenes, this play is certainly not above Middleton's 
average level of excellence." And again (p. 117): "the main in- 
terest of the play centres around the witch-scenes, and their relation 
to Macbeth. This problem ha^ given rise to a multitude of theories. 
It seems most probable that The Witch was the later play ; that Mid- 
dleton was to some extent inspired by Shakespeare, and that the 
players subsequently interpolated fragments of The Witch into Mac- 
beth.'' I see no reason why Middleton should not have been the 
interpolator. 

So, too, Mr. Bullen, in the Introduction to his edition of Mid- 



APPENDIX. 219 

These songs have been noticed by Fleay in an article in 
Anglia, VII., 128, along with two others found in the edition 
of 1673, and in Davenant's edition of 1674, inserted in 
Scene v. of Act II, which scene was added by Davenant.^ 
Now, with respect to the interpolations, the C. P. editors say 
(p. ix.) : " We are persuaded that there are parts of Macbeth 
which Shakespeare did not write, and the style of these seems 
to us to resemble that of Middleton ; " and they specify them 
as follows : — 

Act I., Scene ii., on ground of slovenliness of the metre, 
bombastic phraseology of the sergeant, and inconsistency of 
what is said about the thane of Cawdor. They, however, 
allow that some lines of this scene are Shakespeare's, as 11 

dleton's works, says (vol. i., p. Iviii.) : "The players dealt with 
Shakespeare's text as with any ordinary playwright's ; they saw an 
opportunity of giving more ' business ' to Hecate and the witches by 
conveying passages from Middleton, and they were indifferent to the 
fact that they were degrading Shakespeare's creations. It is only, I 
repeat, in the incantation scenes that there is any resemblance be- 
tween Middleton's poor play and Shakespeare's masterpieces. Yet, 
strange to relate, there have been found in our own day scholars who 
have proposed to hand over to Middleton some of the finest passages 
in Macbeth. It will be enough for me to say that there is not a 
shadow or tittle of evidence, whether internal or external, to support 
their assertions." (Cf, also pp. lii.-lviii. on Macbeth and The Witch.) 

These extracts show the present state of critical opinion. That 
The Witch is a very " poor play " no reader of it can deny. In a few 
passages it shows a borrowing from Shakespeare ; but it is so inferior 
in plot, characterization, tone, language, and versification, to Mac- 
beth, that the two plays cannot be mentioned together. Middleton, 
or some other interpolator, merely inserted the two songs in Macbeth, 
and developed the part of Hecate, to "please the groundlings." 

1 See Fleay's article in Anglia, " Davenant's Macbeth and Shake- 
speare's Witches." 



220 APPENDIX. 

and 55-57, to which Hudson adds 49, 50 ; he concurs in reject- 
ing the scene as Shakespeare's, and Fleay thinks it is altered 
from Shakespeare. They also think Scene I. " not unworthy 
of Shakespeare," but not above the level of Middleton and his 
contemporaries. Fleay, too, assigns it to Middleton ; but 
Hudson would retain all except lines 8-10, "in which the 
Weird Sisters are made to talk just like vulgar witches." 

Scene iii., lines 1-37, are rejected as not in Shakespeare's 
style, though lines 18-23 are conceded to be " powerful." 
Fleay assigns these to Middleton ; and Hudson rejects them 
too, saying that " the style is not at all like Shakespeare's," 
and Shakespeare's " conception of the Weird Sisters is over- 
laid and strangled with discordant and irrelevant matter, 
which is out of keeping with his delineation of character, and 
the dramatic flow would be better without them." 

Act II., Scene i., line 61, is rejected as too feeble for Shake- 
speare. The C. P. editors also follow Coleridge in rejecting 
II. iii., Porter's part ; but neither Fleay nor Hudson concur 
in this, and Professor Hales has written a strong defence of 
this part. (See Hales's Notes and Essays on Shakespeare, pp. 
273-290, " The Porter in Macbeth.") 

Act III., Scene v., is rejected ; and they remark that " if it 
had occurred in a drama not attributed to Shakespeare, no one 
would have discovered in it any trace of Shakespeare's man- 
ner." Fleay concurs here, too, and Hudson thinks " this is 
putting it very softly " (p. 174). A new character, Hecate, is 
introduced without apparent cause ; the style and versification 
are less like Shakespeare than in I. iii., and the whole scene 
is a sheer encumbrance (p. 175). (Cf. III. v. 13, and IV. i. 
48 for inconsistency, C. P. ed.) 

Act IV., Scene i., lines 1-38, are doubtful ; though " the 



APPENDIX. 221 

rich vocabulary, prodigal fancy, and terse diction . . . show 
the hand of a master ; " but there is a great falling off in lines 
39-47, after entrance of Hecate, and lines 125-132 " cannot be 
Shakespeare's" (C. P. ed., p. x.). Fleay and Hudson agree 
to this; and so, says Hudson, " Shakespeare is acquitted of all 
the choral passages." Fleay assigns lines 125-132 to Hecate, 
not to the First Witch, as usual, and says (p. 250) : " She and 
her songs . . . are all alike, not only of the earth earthy, but 
of the mud muddy. They are the sediment of Middleton's 
puddle, not the sparkling foam of the living waters of Shake- 
speare." Fleay assigns to Hecate, too, Macbeth's speech, lines 
94-100, and thinks it was inserted by Middleton. Macbeth 
would not have spoken of himself thus. 

Act IV., Scene iii., lines 140-159, the touching for the 
King's evil, are thought by the C. P. editors to be interpolated, 
probably before a representation at Court (p. xi.), Fleay 
agrees to this in his Manual, but not in the Anglia ; and Hud- 
son dissents from the C. P. editors (p. 176), though it is hard 
to see on what grounds, unless it was intended by Shakespeare 
as a compliment to James I., as the passage may be easily 
omitted, and serves no useful purpose. In fact, it encumbers 
the dialogue between Malcolm and Macduff, and the half 
verses before and after it form a complete verse. 

Act v.. Scene ii., is regarded by the C. P. editors as 
" doubtful," and Fleay thinks it has been " altered," but 
Hudson retains it. It serves to show us that certain Scot- 
tish nobles have revolted to the English, and to bring be- 
fore us the situation of the forces more definitely, so it has 
a purpose. 

Act v., Scene v., lines 47-50, are considered by the C. P. 
editors as " singularly weak," and " read like an unskiKul imi- 



222 APPENDIX, 

tation of other passages ; " they think the sense is much better 
without them (p. xi.). Fleay concurs; and Hudson says (p. 
180) : "Let any one read the passage without these lines, and 
surely he must see that Shakespeare could not have written 
them." Similarly, V, viii., lines 32, 33, they regard as in- 
terpolated ; and lastly, they say that " the last forty lines of the 
play [V. viii. 35-75] show evident traces of another hand 
than Shakespeare's," especially, that the double stage direc- 
tions of the Folio " prove that some alteration had been made 
in the conclusion of the piece." Fleay, too, thinks that this 
last scene has been "altered; " and Hudson says (p. 181) that 
he has not yet been able to make up his mind about it, though 
" to the best of my judgment, some portions of it are not un- 
worthy of Shakespeare, especially the speech of Macduff on 
his re-entrance with Macbeth's head" (lines 54-59) ; but both 
Fleay and Hudson object to " the account of young Siward's 
death, and the unnatural patriotism of his father," as Fleay 
calls it. Hudson rejects Malcolm's last speech (lines 60-75). 
Fleay rejects also a number of tag-rimes in different scenes ; and 
after a careful calculation of all the tag-rimes in all of Shake- 
speare's plays, he finds more in Macbeth than in any other 
play of Shakespeare, even his very earliest, when he used rime 
more frequently. Again, Macbeth is, next to The Comedy of 
Errors, the shortest of Shakespeare's plays ; and he conjectures 
that it was shortened for representation, as some of the others 
were. He considers that Shakespeare's weird sisters (as seen in 
I. iii. 38-80) are the Fates, or Norns, of Teutonic mythology, 
and are different from the Witches of Middleton, who are only 
the common witches of the Middle Ages ; and that " the 
Witches in Act IV. are just like Middleton's witches, only 
superior in quality," and " are clearly the originals from 



APPENDIX. 223 

whom Middleton's imitations were taken " (p. 250).^ He ac- 
knowledges, however, that a serious difficulty in the way of 
his theory is Macbeth's reference in III. iv. 133, and IV. i. 
136, to the Witches of IV. i., as " the weird sisters ; " and he 
says in his Manual (p. 251) that he "cannot satisfactorily 
solve it at present." Mr. Fleay has developed at some length 
this theory of the distinction between Shakespeare's original 
conception of " the weird sisters " of I. iii. 38-80, and the 
" AV itches " of IV. i., in his article in the Anglia (VII. i. 
128) ; and he asks : " How are we to explain Shakespeare's 
giving up the weirds of the grand poetical Norns for the 
petty sorceries of the mediaeval devil?" (p. 138.) He finds 
the explanation in the theory that the play was written in 
compliment to James I., and that Shakespeare identifies the 
Noms and the Witches as a compliment to James's well- 
known views on the subject of witchcraft, as shown in his 
work on " Demonology." He adheres to the theory of Clark 
and Wright in assigning portions of the Witches' songs and 
all of Hecate's- to Middleton ; and he explains his connection 
with the play by supposing that the original MS., or stage 
copy, was burned in the fire at the Globe in 1613; that the 
principal parts were recoverable from the actors, but many of 
the speeches would be abbreviated, and some of the minor 
parts lost. The play being very short in this state. Middle- 
ton, who had in the meantime written The Witch, was em- 
ployed to fill it up. He transferred to it the two songs from 
his Witch, introduced Hecate and dancing, used Hecate to 
connect the " w^eird sisters " and the " Witches," and patched 
a few lines here and there. So he finally assigns to Middle- 

1 Cf. Dowden's Shakspere — His Mind and Art, pp. 21S ff., for 
Dowden's view. 



224 APPENDIX. 

ton I. i. 1-12, and iii. 1-37, for the Witches; III. v. 1-36, 
IV. i. 39-43, 125-132, for Hecate ; IV. i. 92-102 for Mac- 
beth (p. 143). The speeches of the Apparitions, too, were 
worked over. This differs somewhat in details from his views 
in the Shakespeare Manual, but it adheres to the same theory ; 
namely, that Middleton, finding the groundlings were more 
pleased with the witches and the caldron and the visions of 
IV. i. than with the Fate goddesses of I. iii., determined to 
add to them. Hudson agrees generally with Fleay's theory, 
as stated in his Shakespeare Manual; but of course he had 
not, at the time of the publication of his school edition, seen 
Fleay's modification of it as given in his article in Anglia. 
Whatever truth there may be in this theory, it at least serves 
to remove some blemishes in the play, and to relieve Shake- 
speare of some inferior passages. If we grant that two hands 
have been at work at the play, it is reasonable to suppose that 
the second hand was Middleton. The argument cannot be 
given in detail; but the above is a brief summary of it, and 
a statement of the interpolated passages.^ A few lines of 
Middleton's The Witch, showing resemblance in language to 
certain lines of 3[acbeth, will be found in the Notes ; also the 
full text of the two songs from The Witch, the first lines of 
which are found in 3Iacbeth.'^ 

1 See C. P. edition, Introduction; Fleay's Shakespeare Manual 
(pp. 245-261) and article in Anglia, VII. i. 128; Hudson's school 
edition, Appendix; and Dowden's Shakspere Primer, p. 137. 

2 See New Shakspere Society's Transactions for 1877-1879, pp. 27- 
40, for Spalding's article "On the Witch Scenes in Macbeth,'' in 
rebuttal of Fleay's views. 



The Students' Series of English Classics. 

DURABLY AND HANDSOMELY BOUND IN CLOTH AND CHEAP IN PRICE. 

SOME OF THE BOOKS. 

Most of them required for Admission to College. 

Bates's Ballad Books 50 cents 

Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America 35 " 

Carlyle's Essay on Bums 35 " 

Carlyle's Diamond Necklace 35 ** 

Coleridge's Ancient Mariner 25 " 

De Quincey's Revolt of the Tartars 35 " 

De Quincey's Joan of Arc and other selections 35 '* 

Dryden's Palamon and Arcite ." 35 '* 

George Eliot's Silas Mamer 35 " 

Goldsmith's Traveler and Deserted Village 25 " 

Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 50 " 

Johnson's History of Rasselas 35 " 

Longfellow's Evangeline 35 " 

Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal 25 " 

Matthew Arnold's Sohraband Rustum 25 " 

Macaulay's Essay on Lord Clive .35 " 

Macaulay's Second Essay on the Earl of Chatham .... 35 " 

Macaulay's Essays on Milton and Addison 35 " 

Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson 25 " 

Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome 

Milton's Paradise Lost, Books I and II 35 " 

Milton's L'AUegro, II Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas ... 25 " 

Pope's Iliad, Books I, VI, XXII, and XXIV 35 '* 

Scott's Marmion 35 " 

Scott's Lady of the Lake 35 " 

Scudder's Introduction to Writings of John Ruskin .... 50 " 

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream 35 " 

Shakespeare's As You Like It 35 " 

Shakespeare's Macbeth 35 " 

Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice 35 " 

Sir Roger de Coverley Papers from the (Specia^or .... 35 " 

Thomas's Selections from Washington Irving 50 " 

Tennyson's Elaine 25 " 

Tennyson's Princess 35 " 

Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration 25 " 

Any of the above booJcs sent postpaid on receipt of price. Usual discount 
on quantities. Correspondence Solicited. 

LEACH, SHEWELL & SANBORN, Publishers, 

BOSTON. NEW YORK. CHICAGO. 



The Students' Series of English Classics. 

EMINENT SCHOLARSHIP 
COMBINED WITH LARGE BUSINESS EXPERIENCE. 



SOME OF THE EDITORS. 
Frank T. Baker, Teachers' College, New York City. 
Katharine Lee Bates, Wellesley College. 
Henry H. Belfield, Chicago Manual Training School. 
Henry W. Boynton, Phillips Andover Academy. 
Gamaliel Bradford, Jr., Instructor in Literature. 
James Chalmers, Wisconsin Normal School. 
Albert S. Cook, Yale University. 

W. W. Curtis, Principal of High School, Pawtucket, R.I. 
Warren F. Gregory, Murdock School, Winchendon, Mass, 
Louise M. Hodgkins, late of Wellesley College. 
Fannie M. McCauley, Winchester School, Baltimore. 
W. A. Mozier, High School, Ottawa, 111. 
Mary Harriott Norris, Instructor in Literature. 
F. V. N. Painter, Roanoke College. 
D. D. Pratt, High School, Portsmouth, Ohio. 
Warwick J. Price, Late of St. Paul's School. 
J. G. Riggs, School Superintendent, Plattsburg, N.Y. 
A. S. Roe, late Principal of High School, Worcester, Mass. 
Fred N. Scott, University of Michigan. 
Vida D. Scudder, Wellesley College. 
L. Dupont Syle, University of California. 
Isaac Thomas, Principal of High School, New Haven, Conn. 
James Arthur Tufts, Phillips Exeter Academy. 
William K. Wickes, Principal of High School, Syracuse, N.Y. 
Mabel C. Willard, Instructor, New Haven, Conn. 



LEACH, SHEWELL & SANBORN, Publishers, 

BOSTON. NEW YORK. CHICAGO. 



